Dubai reveals massive plans for world’s busiest airport

Al Maktoum International: What the world’s hardest-working airport might one day look like

When it comes to airport expansion projects, the Gulf States are abuzz and the competition is fierce.
A mammoth airport in Saudi Arabia has already set records for size but new plans in Dubai are ratcheting up the race to be the world’s busiest airport by passenger volume.

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd International Airport currently wears the crown as the largest airport in the world by area. At a whopping 780 square kilometers (about 300 square miles), that’s bigger than neighboring country Bahrain.

The Saudis aren’t resting on their laurels, either. The country is working on a new six-runway airport on the King Fahd International site by 2030, with capacity eventually for 185 million passengers per year.
For comparison, that’s 75 million more than the 110 million passengers the world’s current busiest airport by passenger volume, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, is expected to serve this year.

And this is by no means Hartsfield-Jackson’s first time at the rodeo. It’s held that position every year — except for pandemic-hit 2020 — for more than two decades.
Dubai, however, just made a huge play, laying out plans Sunday for a new US $ 34.85 billion (AED 128 billion) passenger terminal at Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International (DWC), the emirate’s newest airport.
(CNN)