Starting on May 9, Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport (Dubai World Central) will receive passenger flights for the first time since 2019. The northern runway at Dubai International Airport (DXB) will be closed for maintenance work.

Dubai World Central airport to receive passenger flights

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dubai's second airport, DWC, has been closed to passenger traffic. But from May 9, DWC will reopen, because Dubai International (DXB) will be closing its northern runway for a period of 45 days for a more thorough maintenance job. Dubai Airports said,

“While regular runway maintenance is scheduled on a weekly basis, more extensive upgrades such as the one planned require a complete closure of the runway.”

Brussels_Airport_Runway_25_R
Airports have regular maintenance schedules for runways, but every few years, more extensive maintenance is required. Photo: Lucash via Wikimedia Commons

Before the pandemic, some small airlines operated from DWC and will be resuming service to the airport. Although flights will be directed from DXB to DWC because of the construction, some flights will continue to operate to DWC after the 45 days are over. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will provide a bus service between all terminals at DWC and DXB, and passengers will be given complimentary parking at DWC.

flydubai will operate flights to DWC

Today, flydubai announced that it will operate flights to 34 destinations from DWC during the 45 day maintenance period at DXB. The airline hopes to minimize travel disruptions for its clients. Speaking on the announcement, flydubai’s Chief Executive Officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said,

“...as we saw in 2019, runway enhancement programmes continue to support the long-term vision for Dubai as it reinforces its position as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs. We look forward to the completion of the northern runway refurbishment programme and the efficiencies it will bring to our home at Dubai International (DXB). With flydubai flights operating to select destinations from DWC, we aim to provide our passengers with as much choice as possible to travel across our network with minimum disruption as more countries open up for travel...”

FlyDubai fly dubai Boeing 737-800
The carrier posted a profit last year. Photo: Getty Images

flydubai will operate flights to over 30% of its network during the maintenance period at DXB. Some of the destinations include, but are not limited to, Addis Ababa, Bahrain, Delhi, Jeddah, Kuwait, Mumbai, Muscat, and Riyadh. Following the completion of the runway maintenance at DXB, flydubai will resume all of its operations from DXB.

Construction at Dubai International

The last time the northern runway at DXB underwent this level of work was in 2014, while the southern runway was improved in 2019. Because DXB is a dual runway operation, the airport will not close to passenger traffic between May 9 and June 22.

Lukas Souza LAX 10-20-21
Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying

Emirates Airlines is the region's largest carrier and its international hub is at DXB. This has paved the way for it to become the world's busiest airport for passenger traffic, a feat it has achieved 8 years in a row. In 2021, 29.1million passengers transited through DXB, down from pre-pandemic travel, but continuing to be the world's busiest airport. Passengers traffic at DXB is expected to rise to 57 million in 2022.