On 22nd June, an Emirates A380 bound for Amman, Jordan, was the first aircraft to depart from the new runway and shortly after, an Emirates A380 arriving from Sydney, Australia, touched down, marking the official reopening of DXB’s northern runway and return to operations ahead of the busy summer travel period.
Following a strong start to 2022, with more than 13.6 million travellers passing through DXB in the first quarter, the highly complex engineering project was completed according to the schedule. The project was completed in preparation for the peak travel season, busy summer period, the football World Cup in Qatar, bringing an extra influx of passengers towards the end of the year, and a longer-term growth in the next decade.
Commenting on the announcement, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said, “The northern runway rehabilitation project was a key strategic move by Dubai Airports and its partners in the aviation community to invest in the infrastructure at DXB and shows our ongoing commitment to passenger care and operational excellence, while enhancing the safety, operational efficiency, and capacity of our airport well into the future.”
Griffiths added, “We are delighted to report that some elements of the project were delivered ahead of schedule, allowing us to fully prepare to a return to dual runway operations at the world’s busiest airport on time. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our teams and service partners supporting us, our state-of-the-art infrastructure will continue to provide the same world-class customer experience for tens of millions of passengers for many years to come.”
