ONE of the world’s busiest airports has revealed plans to eventually close ahead of a major expansion.
Dubai International Airport handles more than 90 million passengers per year, which includes millions of Brits.
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And the airport has said that the airport will one day close, with passengers flying from the UK to Dubai being rerouted to the Al Maktoum International Airport, once the expansion is completed.
The newer Al Maktoum International Airport opened in 2010 that is 22 miles outside of the city.
The boss of Dubai International Airport, Mr Griffiths spoke at the Arabian Travel Market conference and said: “We will move every single service to DWC.”
Mr Griffiths added that the land occupied by DXB would likely be redeveloped once the airport closes: “DXB will close and we’ll redevelop the area. It will spread the city out.”
The airport known as DWC, is undergoing a £28billion expansion.
Once complete, Al Maktoum Airport will be five times the size of DXB, and will be able to handle 260 million passengers a year.
The new airport will have five runways and up to 400 aircraft gates, making it the largest airport project in the world.
The closure timeline for Dubai International Airport remains unclear, but officials say DWC’s new terminal will first open in 2032.
The airport will continue to expand through to the 2050s.
Brits heading on holiday to Dubai are likely to continue flying to DXB for at least another decade.
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Dubai International Airport first opened in 1960 and is nearing the end of its “operating role”, according to Mr Griffiths.
The only way it could continue to remain open is with further investment – instead, it will eventually close.
Last year, Dubai International Airport, was officially the world’s busiest airport for international travel by Skytrax.
It saw 92.3 million passengers pass through the terminals.
The busy airport sees as many as 6.2 million British visitors a year which equates to roughly 17,000 a day.
Both British Airways and Emirates currently operate flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Despite the long-term plans, there’s no need for UK travellers to worry about any disruption to holiday plans.
Here in the UK, one London airport has got the thumbs-up to build a new terminal, nearly doubling passengers.
And a UK airport that operates the world’s shortest flight to get new terminal.
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