Al Maktoum International Airport

The 14,800' x 200' runway took just 600 days to finish, and the airport's $75 million Al Maktoum Airport Cargo Gateway was halfway completed by the conclusion of 2008. The airport opened on June 27, 2010 with one runway, performing only cargo flights. The initial flight into the airport happened on June 20, 2010 from Hong Kong. Then in February 2011, the airport was certified to handle passenger flights with up to 60 travelers. The airport officially opened for passenger flights two years later, on October 26, 2013. In Q1 of 2014, 102,000 travelers passed through the airport, and at the time that it opened, three cargo service airlines served the airport. As time has passed, 15 additional airlines have signed a contract to operate flights to the airport. It is currently in its final stage of construction which, if completed, will include three passenger terminals, numerous concourses, hotels, and shopping malls.

OMDW is located in Jebel Ali, just 23 miles southwest of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 

● When totally completed, (originally slated for 2027), the airport will contain transport modes, logistics, and value-added services, including manufacturing and assembly, in a single free economic zone. 
● The airport has a projected annual capacity of 12,000,000 long tons (13,000,000 short tons) of freight and between 160 million and 260 million travelers. 
● The airport was initially planned to contain six runways, but this number was changed to five 14,800' parallel runways in April 2009, with a passenger complex in the center. Each runway is supposed to have extended asphalted pathways on either side, which would allow aircraft to bypass other runways and taxiways without disturbing aircraft movements of these runways and taxiways.