{"version":"1.9","identifier":"0ac6d195-ef3b-48b9-8512-b7cb964cf60a","language":"en-US","title":"Dubai's Al Maktoum mega-airport is under construction. Here's the 2032 plan","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://www.loungefrog.com/news/dubai-al-maktoum-airport-construction-2032-june-2026","datePublished":"2026-10-25T18:53:45.973642Z","dateModified":"2026-10-25T18:54:51.943253Z","authors":["Patrick Karsh"],"excerpt":"Dubai says Al Maktoum's first phase is still aimed at 2032, with AED 13 billion of work under way and bigger awards coming.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/0ac6d195-ef3b-48b9-8512-b7cb964cf60a/a5b111084a8196620231e9061a098bf1.jpg","keywords":["airport"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"Dubai's Al Maktoum mega-airport is under construction. Here's the 2032 plan","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"Dubai says Al Maktoum's first phase is still aimed at 2032, with AED 13 billion of work under way and bigger awards coming.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Patrick Karsh · Published October 25, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/0ac6d195-ef3b-48b9-8512-b7cb964cf60a/a5b111084a8196620231e9061a098bf1.jpg","caption":"Official design rendering of Al Maktoum International Airport's passenger terminal · Dubai Media Office","accessibilityCaption":"Official design rendering of Al Maktoum International Airport's passenger terminal","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"Official design rendering of Al Maktoum International Airport's passenger terminal · Dubai Media Office","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Dubai says the first phase of its new mega-airport at Al Maktoum International (DWC) is still aimed at opening in 2032. In a [June 15, 2026 update](https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2026/june/15-06/hamdan-bin-mohammed-approves-al-maktoum-airport), the government said more than AED 13 billion of work is already under way, and packages worth more than AED 55 billion are being prepared for award by year-end.\n\nIf you fly Dubai today, you almost certainly use Dubai International (DXB). Al Maktoum is the long-term replacement hub. The June briefing is one of the clearest progress reports travelers have gotten this year.\n\n## What is already built\n\nDubai Aviation Engineering Projects CEO Suzanne Al Anani said crews have installed more than 17,000 concrete piles and moved more than 45 million cubic meters of earth. The second runway is complete, ahead of work on the existing runway. About 4.5 million cubic meters of concrete sit in the core infrastructure package. Total work hours passed 10 million in 15 months. About 9,000 people are on site now; the peak is expected near 120,000.\n\nSheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who chairs Dubai Airports, put the next awards above AED 55 billion. Those packages cover the western passenger terminal substructure, a fourth aircraft concourse, an automated people mover, baggage handling, and superstructure for the western terminal and the first three concourses. Facade and roofing packages are also planned during the year, according to the same briefing.\n\n## What the finished airport is supposed to be\n\nWhen the full master plan is done, Dubai says Al Maktoum will handle more than 260 million passengers a year and 12 million tons of cargo. The design calls for five independent parallel runways, two passenger terminals, seven concourses and more than 430 aircraft stands, plus rail and road links.\n\nThat capacity figure is larger than any airport operating today. Treat it as the end-state plan, not a 2032 day-one number. Phase one is what matters for the next decade of booking decisions. Officials describe an automated people mover and multimodal links so the site works as a city, not only a runway complex.\n\n## What it means if you still fly DXB\n\nDubai is not walking away from DXB while DWC rises. The same June update listed AED 16 billion for upgrades at DXB and the current DWC terminal, with more than AED 7.5 billion already awarded. Work includes the Terminal 3 access bridge, road upgrades for Terminals 1 and 3, airfield changes, remote stands and baggage systems. At today's DWC, Dubai is also expanding the passenger terminal to support flydubai's growth, including Boeing 787s.\n\nFor travelers, the near-term advice is simple. Keep booking DXB for Emirates and most long-haul partners. Watch DWC if you fly flydubai or use the southern airport for a smaller set of flights. A full shift of Emirates' hub is years away and will be staged, not a single night when every gate moves.\n\nLounges, hotel holds and connection times at DXB will keep mattering through the end of the decade. Do not assume your 2027 Emirates ticket suddenly leaves from the desert site.\n\n## Why Dubai is building this\n\nOfficials tie the project to the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and to keeping the emirate competitive as a trade and tourism hub. Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed called it infrastructure meant to last for decades. Khalifa Al Zaffin of Dubai Aviation City Corporation said planners are working on a managed transition from DXB so service standards do not drop when flights move.\n\nNone of that changes your 2026 or 2027 itinerary. It does explain why DXB will keep feeling crowded even as billions go into a second airport south of the city. Capacity pressure at DXB is the problem Al Maktoum is meant to solve.\n\nIf you are connecting in Dubai this year, start with our [Dubai International (DXB) page](https://www.loungefrog.com/airports/dxb) for lounges and terminals. Al Maktoum is listed separately as [DWC](https://www.loungefrog.com/airports/dwc).\n\n***\n\n## Sources\n\n* Dubai Media Office, Al Maktoum International Airport milestones (June 15, 2026): <https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2026/june/15-06/hamdan-bin-mohammed-approves-al-maktoum-airport>","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}