Closure of Dubai Airport’s northern runway shifts capacity to DWC

Credit: Dubai International Airport’s (DXB)

Dubai Airports has confirmed plans to leverage the capacity and infrastructure of Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai’s second airport, to ensure a seamless passenger experience during the planned temporary closure of Dubai International Airport’s (DXB) northern runway starting 9 May 2022 and continuing through 22 June 2022.

DXB’s northern runway will close for a 45-day period to undergo a comprehensive upgrade designed to boost safety, service, and capacity levels for the tens of millions of passengers that use the airport every year.

DWC will handle more than 1000 flights per week during the rehabilitation period, with the majority of those flights being operated by flydubai, Spice Jet, Indigo, and Gulf Air.

To accommodate the additional passenger traffic, DWC will re-open its guest experience and service touchpoints to ensure a smooth transition. The airport’s facilities, including restaurants, cafes and retail outlets will be fully operational, and check-in desks, customs and immigration will also be ready to welcome guests returning to the airport.

To ensure disruption is limited during the period, Dubai Airports is advising all passengers who are due to travel into or out of Dubai during the closure period to check with their respective airlines in advance to confirm the airport and/or terminal prior.

To minimise any inconvenience to guests, Dubai Airports has also confirmed a special series of transport links between DXB and DWC. These will provide flexible options for those travelling during the 45-day closure, including an inter-airport complimentary 24/7 coach service for transfers between the two airports, free on-site parking facilities for passengers at DWC and special fares for RTA taxis flagged for journeys from DWC.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports commented: “The planning of this important infrastructure project was carefully done to minimise disruption to our passengers and ensure our partners across the Dubai aviation community are working seamlessly to maintain the highest safety and guest experience standards at both Dubai International and Dubai World Central airports. During this timeframe, DWC will be fully operational with all essential services and amenities our passengers expect. To help avoid unnecessary confusion and mitigate the impact on guest experience, before setting out for the airport I would advise those travelling during this period to double check with their airline from which airport and terminal their planned flight will depart.”

The northern runway rehabilitation project will involve the placement of approximately 160,000 tonnes of asphalt and 30,000m³ of concrete to strengthen and resurface the runway and the adjacent taxiways. Some 264km of secondary cables will be replaced and over 4,400 runway lights have been upgraded to modern, economic, and environmentally friendly technology as part of the project. DXB’s northern runway previously underwent a similar rehabilitation programme in 2014, and the southern runway was refurbished in 2019.

The upgrade is part of Dubai Airport’s ongoing commitment to enhancing passenger safety and guest experience while helping increase capacity at DXB, the world’s busiest international airport. Dubai Airports is working in close consultation with all partners and stakeholders to ensure planning of flight schedules, co-ordination of staffing and communication with customers is seamless and consistent.