Al Maktoum International Airport Guide

Al Maktoum International Airport, also known as Dubai World Central, opened for cargo operations in June 2010 and began scheduled passenger flights on 27 October 2013 with Wizz Air as its launch carrier. It sits in the Dubai South development in Jebel Ali, built as a second gateway to complement Dubai International Airport. Dubai Airports owns and operates the site under a masterplan intended to eventually make it the emirate's main airport.

The passenger terminal, expanded in 2018 to a 26-million-passenger annual capacity, has seen traffic recover from pandemic-era lows and then accelerate: DWC handled more than 1.1 million passengers in 2024, a 95% increase on 2023, with nearly 50,000 flight movements. Low-cost and charter carriers dominate the route network, adding services across the Gulf, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and East Africa. Cargo remains a major function too, with DWC handling around 600,000 tonnes of freight in 2024 through dedicated apron space separate from the passenger side.

In April 2024, Dubai's government approved a $35 billion expansion to add a new passenger terminal and further runways, with the first phase designed for 150 million passengers a year and a long-term target of 260 million. Airlines are expected to transfer from Dubai International in stages, with the switch not complete before the early 2030s.