Al-Maktoum expansion: Dubai announces plans for mega airport

Dubai announced on Sunday plans to construct a new passenger terminal at Al-Maktoum Airport, set to become the "largest airport in the world" with a budget exceeding $34.8 billion. Once fully operational, this airport will have the capacity to handle 260 million passengers annually, making it the largest in terms of capacity globally.

This new facility will be five times larger than Dubai International Airport (DXB), currently one of the busiest airports worldwide. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, the chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and CEO of Emirates, stated that the first phase of the project is expected to be completed within the next 10 years, initially accommodating 150 million passengers per year.

Located on the outskirts of Dubai, Al-Maktoum Airport has been operational since 2010, handling a small portion of the emirate's air traffic. It is poised to eventually replace Dubai International Airport, which currently has a maximum capacity of 120 million passengers and cannot be expanded due to its central location within the city-state.