Coronavirus in the UAE: Some information on this website is out of date as a result of measures taken in the UAE to deal with the coronavirus crisis. Confirm with official or authoritative sources.

Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali (IATA Airport Code DWC)

In Aug 2015, the Dubai World Central area was renamed as Dubai South.

Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) passenger information

• DWC airport operates 24 hours (food court, coffee shop). Limited facilities landside - Starbucks in arrivals area, about 5 food court fast food restaurants near departure area (no McDonalds or Burger King), several rental car offices. No retail shops. Airside has McDonald's, a couple of other restaurants and cafes, Dubai Duty Free, Bin Sina Pharmacy, Emirates NBD money exchange.
• DWC location is past Jebel Ali heading in Abu Dhabi direction, somewhere in the desert. It's a long way from Dubai city, and an expensive taxi ride. There is nothing in that area for visitors except for the terminal building and sand. No hotels nearby. The closest is probably EasyHotel in Jebel Ali, in an inconvenient location for doing anything in Dubai.
• Airport bus connections to Dubai available 24 hours from bus stop in front of departures terminal: Bus F55 goes hourly between DWC and Ibn Battuta Mall metro station during the day from 0600-2200 (takes about 40 mins). Bus F55A goes hourly between DWC and Al Satwa bus station at night from 2300-0500 (takes about 1½-2 hours, or longer if stuck in Dubai Marina traffic jam). You need a Nol travel card to use the buses (and metro), available at DWC customer services desk or RTA counter near the food court between arrivals and departure areas (closer to arrivals).
• Bus F53 does *not* go to DWC passenger terminal, it goes to DWC Office Headquarters which is a long walk from the terminal (10 km or 2+ hrs).
• No direct metro, underground, or train connection to DWC.
• Taxi fare allow AED 50-350 (US$15-100) from Dubai or Sharjah: AED 50-75 from Jebel Ali, AED 100 from Dubai Marina, AED 150-200 from Bur Dubai, AED 200-250 from Deira, AED 250-350 from Sharjah or Abu Dhabi.

Information valid as of Oct 2014. Update Jan 2017, should still be valid (bus routes F55 and F55A unchanged).

Car park facilities at DWC

Update 01 Mar 2017: Dubai Airports website says free parking at DWC for up to 3 days, but if you phone and check (we did), they'll tell you free parking is for an unlimited duration, within reason - a week or two is fine, several months is not. But note that the parking area will change on 03 Mar 2017. Don't park your car there before 03 Mar 2017 if you plan to come back and collect it after that date.

• Arrival and departure car park locations are right in front of the terminal building. Update Sep 2016: arrivals car park is closed until Feb 2017 (or later), but it's not far to walk from departure car park to arrivals hall - it will be obvious when you get there. Go into departure terminal entrance if it's hot, arrivals and departure areas are on the same level in the same building and connected.
• No shaded parking or parking building (as of Dec 2015).
• Car parking no longer free for unlimited duration from Sep 2016 according to DWC website but if you phone and ask them, they'll tell you it's still free (as of Mar 2017).
  • Feb 2017 onwards - to be updated.
  • [Check and update] Sep 2016 to Feb 2017 (dates not confirmed): Free for up to 3 days in departure car park. Charges not supplied for longer than 3 days but probably standard DXB long term or T2 daily rates of AED 100 per day. But contact DWC before parking there to confirm it's not the same rate as DXB short term, AED 240 per day.
  • Oct 2014 to Sep 2016 (date not confirmed): Free, unlimited duration.
  • Update Oct 2014: Car park is free again after DXB runway maintenance program finished, charges might be imposed again sometime in the future ... if or when airport gets busy.
  • 01 May 2014 to Oct 2014: Standard Dubai Airport DXB long-term carpark rate: first hour free, second hour 20 dhs, additional 5 dhs per hour approximately up to 12 hours, 10 dhs per hour up to 24 hours, daily rate for long term parking AED 100 per day.
  • Before 01 May 2014: free parking, unlimited duration.
• [Check and update] There is no alternative free or cheap parking option within walking distance of, or short taxi ride to Al Maktoum Airport.
• Some sources say up to 100,000 underground car park spaces available. This is not correct. There is no underground parking. The actual number of car parks available is about 800-1000 (according to flydubai as of Dec 2016), but from our view of the car park it looks more like around 2,000-3,000 spaces. Whatever the correct figure, it seems to be more than enough for the time being. For comparison, the Nakheel Harbour and Tower metro station car park building has about 3,000 spaces. So if you imagine thirty of those buildings in one place, you have some idea of what 100,000 car parks looks like.

Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) background

• Al Maktoum International Airport (AlMaktoum Airport) could be the world's cargo hub according to Professor Balachandran, the JL Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Information Management at Northwestern University, Illinois. He said in a Khaleej Times report 30 August 2010 that "The entire movement of cargo worldwide could be routed through Dubai given its strategic position on the Gulf Coast. Dubai could well be on its way to becoming another Hong Kong or Singapore whose seaports deal with huge amounts of cargo transiting to various locations."
• Capacity update 24 February 2010 (Emirates Business report of interview with Dubai Airports CEO): "We are expecting a gradual build-up for DWC because obviously, the main point at DWC is to work towards Phase 2 of Al Maktoum International, which will have a capacity for 160 million passengers, five runways and the airports of the future, which we expect to become operational sometime in early 2020. ... Al Maktoum International airport's initial capacity is about seven million passengers, while our current capacity at the existing airport [Dubai International Airport] is about 60 million."
• DWC was originally called Jebel Ali International Airport (possibly with airport code JXB), then renamed as Dubai World Central International Airport, then renamed as Al Maktoum International Airport with airport code DWC. Also written as Al Maktoom International Airport in some official sources (e.g. RTA bus routes).
• The new Al Maktoum International Airport is part of Dubai International Airport City - area covered is 140 sq km (twice the size of Hong Kong Island). Expected cost $33 billion.
• Area will include Dubai Logistics City, Dubai Commercial City, Dubai Aviation City, Dubai Science and Technology Park, Residential City, Dubai golf resort.
• Completed in two phases. First phase includes Logistics City, one runway and intended mainly for freight. Completion planned for 2008 but delayed until June 2010 (or later).
• Second phase will have another five four runways and annual handling capacity will be 120 million passengers and 12 million tons of cargo. DWC expected to be ten times the size of DXB. World's busiest airport in 2004 was Atlanta with over 80 million passengers.
• The first 4.5 kilometre A-380 enabled CAT-III runway is scheduled for completion by the end of 2007. "First flights at JXB are expected mid-2008, when the first passenger and cargo terminals will be ready," stated Abdulla Alfalasi, DWC's Marketing and Communications Director in 24 January 2007 press release (see below).

Al Maktoum International Airport official opening and Aerodrome Certificate

• On 27 June 2010, AMIA was officially awarded an Aerodrome Certificate / Aerodrome License by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) covering all aerodrome operational disciplines of the Dubai World Central (DWC) - Al Maktoum International Airport.
• Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of the UAE GCAA, presented the Aerodrome Certificate to HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Airports at a ceremony before the official opening of the AMI Airport.
• On the same day, AMIA/JXB officially opened for cargo operations with first flights operated by Rus Aviation, Skyline and Aerospace Consortium (Reuters 27 June 2010).
• First aircraft to arrive at AMIA was an Emirates Airlines Boeing 777 freighter, cargo flight EK9883 from Hong Kong to Düsseldorf, which landed on Sunday 20 June 2010, a week before the official opening ceremony.
• First passenger flights expected to start by end of March 2011.

Al Maktoum International Airport expected opening date and first flights

Opening date for passenger terminal and flights is Sun 27 Oct 2013.

• 17 Sep 2013 - DWC Jebel Ali received certification or regulatory approval from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to begin handling passenger flights from 27 October 2013, according to a statement from Dubai Airports.
  • Airlines starting flights on the launch date include Nasair (Saudi Arabia) and Wizzair (Whizzair, Whizz Air) (Hungary). Annual passenger handling capacity is about 7 million at DWC at present. Plans are for capacity to increase to 160 million per year ... one day, and 12 million tons of freight cargo. Dubai International Airport (DXB) handles over 5 million passengers at present ... per month.
  • From May to Jul or Aug 2014, additional flights will use DWC, being diverted from DXB while some runway maintenance and engineering work takes place at DXB. Some scheduled passenger services, and all freighter, charter and general aviation flights, will be rerouted to and from DWC while the work is carried out.
• 03 Apr 2013 (WAM) - Latest announced opening date for passenger flights is 27 Oct 2013, with first flights by Wizzair and Nasair. Passenger terminal construction completed in 2012?
• 12 Dec 2012 - the Khaleej Times reported that the new passenger terminal would or might open by November 2013, quoting Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as saying "We will look to open passenger terminal by end of next year. Hopefully before the next Airshow in Dubai." The Dubai Airshow will be from 17-21 November 2013 at Dubai World Central. Also reported was a quote from Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) Chief Operating Officer Rashed Bu Qara’a saying "During this initial phase, we will utilise the VIP terminal within the passenger terminal. Shortly thereafter, we expect the first business aviation operations to commence out of DWC’s Aviation District in middle of 2013"
• Mar 2011 - possible start date for passenger flights to JXB or DWC according to AFP report 04 May 2010 (see Jebel Ali Airport information page).
• 27 Jun 2010 - official opening date of Al Maktoum Airport.
• 27 Jun 2010 - opening date for cargo flights at Al Maktoum International Airport according to 24 Feb 2010 news reports (see JXB page).
• 20 Jun 2010 - first flight landed at Al Maktoum Airport, a cargo flight operated by Emirates Airline.

List of Al Maktoum Dubai World Central Airport passenger airlines at DWC

International airlines starting flights to and from DWC

1. Gulf Air (airline code GF) - MoU signed with DWC to start daily flights from DWC to Bahrain from 08 Dec 2013, flight schedule not supplied although news reports said the flights would be in the evening. Gulf Air is the first full-service airline to start flights to DWC, and already operates 51 flights per week to DXB. News reports or press release 24 Oct 2013. Update 31 Oct 2013 - GF plans to offer additional flights. An anonymous spokesperson was reported as saying "We hope to be able to add a second daily morning flight to Al Maktoum International within three to six months of commencing our operations to the new airport" (Gulf News).
2. Jazeera Airways - 2x weekly flights to Kuwait, start date 31 Oct 2013.
3. nasair - flights start date 27 Oct 2013 (reported 03 Apr 2013). Destination details not supplied but reports said nasair planned to operate more than 50 flights per week between Dubai and cities in Saudi Arabia.
4. Qatar Airways - 3x daily flights to Doha (DOH) [check].
5. Wizz Air - flights start date 28 Oct 2013 (reported 03 Apr 2013). Destinations - Budapest (Hungary) 4x weekly, Bucharest (Romania) 3x weekly, Kiev (Ukraine) 4x weekly (suspended or never started), Sofia (Bulgaria) 3x weekly. Fares from AED 349 (US$95) one way (basic fare not including checked luggage, check-in fee, etc, etc).

• 01 May 2012 - Emirates 24-7 reported that Dubai Airports CEO, Paul Griffiths, said they were in discussions with various carriers (unnamed), and was quoted as saying "We are talking to several other carriers and as 2013 approaches, the intensity of the conversations have increased. If an airline steps forward then we will be happy to hopefully welcome them by 2013."

Temporary relocations from DXB to DWC May to Jul 2014

While maintenance work carried out on DXB runway from 01 May to mid Jul 2014.

1. Equatorial Congo Airlines
2. Flydubai
3. Jet Airways
4. Malaysia Airlines - Kuala Lumpur to Dubai flights moving from DXB to DWC from 01 May to 20 Jul 2014 using an Airbus A330-300. Reported or announced 27 Dec 2013.
5. PAL Express
6. Royal Brunei Airlines
7. Yemenia Airlines
8. Ural Airlines

Emirates Airline

• 17 Nov 2013 - either Emirates or FlyDubai will shift operations to DWC by 2020 according to comments by Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline, made in an interview with the Gulf News, who quoted him as saying "For sure, 100 per cent." Unclear where GN got the 2020 date from but the headline said "Either flydubai or Emirates will move to DWC by 2020, Shaikh Ahmad says".
• 03 Apr 2013 - no confirmed plans for Emirates Airline to start flights from Dubai World Central airport.
• 01 May 2012 (Emirates 24-7) - Emirates Airline not expected to move to Al Maktoum Airport until 2025-2027.

FlyDubai (Fly Dubai)

• 17 Nov 2013 - Gulf News reported either FlyDubai or Emirates would transfer operations to DWC by 2020.
• 03 Apr 2013 - no confirmed plans for Fly Dubai to start flights from DWC.
• 01 May 2012 (Emirates 24-7) - Dubai Airports CEO, Paul Griffiths, was quoted as saying "Flydubai could be an anchor airline at Dubai World Central, but it could also be another UAE airline, or one outside the country. ... Looking at flydubai’s current growth, it is undoubtedly the case that Terminal 2 will be unable to accommodate its operations at a later stage. Dubai International will clearly be the place for flydubai then. However, there won’t be a wholesale move, but a part of the operations would shift to DWC. But there is no timeframe set for that."

List of Al Maktoum Dubai World Central Airport freight and cargo airline operators

03 Apr 2012 - during 2012, 36 airlines operated cargo flights (scheduled and chartered) handling 219,092 tonnes of air freight on 16,317 aircraft movements (WAM press release).

1. Aban Air
2. ACI
3. Aerospace Consortium
4. Aviation Service Management
5. Coyne Airways
6. Emirates Airline
7. EuroAsian Services
8. Gatewick
9. Ramjet
10. Reem Style
11. Rial Aviation
12. Rus Aviation
13. Skyline
14. Sonic Jet
15. SunGlobal

Emirates Airline cargo operations at DWC

• 24 Oct 2013 (WAM) - Emirates cargo terminal and supporting infrastructure for freighter aircraft operations under construction, scheduled completion date May 2014.
• , scheduled for completion in May 2014. By the mid-2020s, Al Maktoum International Airport will have the capacity to handle 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo. – Emirates New Agency, WAM

Al Maktoum Dubai World Central Airport facilities

	Phase I	Phase 2	Phase ?	Completion
Runways	1			6 5
Remote stands	64
Cargo terminals	1
Cargo capacity (annual)	250,000 tonnes			12 million tonnes
Passenger terminals	1
Passenger capacity (annual)	5 million (7 million)			160 million
Completion date (scheduled)	Jun 2008 Mar 2011			2015
Completion date (probable)				2025
Completion date (actual)	2012?

Al Maktoum Airport Cargo Gateway

• Al Maktoum Airport Cargo Gateway is the cargo hub based at AMIA as a result of the Dubai Cargo Village restructuring program announced 07 January 2008. The Dubai Airport cargo hub will be renamed as Dubai International Airport Cargo Gateway.
• Dubai Cargo City (or Dubai Airports Cargo City) is the parent cargo hub for both Cargo Gateways, and the Dubai International Flower Center?
• AMIA Cargo Gateway is scheduled for completion by 2013 with annual cargo handling capacity of 200,000-800,000 tonnes in Phase I, and eventually 12 million tonnes per year.

Dubai World Central - 24 January 2007 update (from press release)

• 140 square km aviation community include DWC Airport.
• Dubai Logistics City (DLC) AEB 1.5 billion headquarters and office park construction contract awarded to M. A. Kharafi & Sons (Kuwait) with March 2009 completion scheduled.
• Central Utility Complexes (CUC) contract awarded to The National Company, part of the Kharafi Group. One to meet district cooling requirements for DWC's airport area, the second for DLC's HQ and Office Park.
• DLC comprises a headquarters and Office Park, Forwarders Area, Light Industrial Area, Warehousing Area and the Staff Village. Area of 25 square kilometres, eventually will handle 12 million tonnes of air cargo annually in up to 16 air cargo terminals.
• The Office Park is part of the free zone, but outside the customs bonded area. The Park will provide leased office buildings and also host two business hotels, serviced apartments, banks, business centres, coffee shops, restaurants, snacks, prayer rooms, shops and a multi-use convention centre.
• Phase 1 of the Office Park will include 10 six-storey office buildings each with a total built up area of approximately 255,000m2, and a net office space of around 198,000m2.

Dubai World Central Airport timeline and history

• 2027 - revised date (2017) for full or partial commercial services according to comments by the Dubai Airports CEO, Paul Griffiths, published in Construction Week 17-23 Mar 2012: "The original [plan] was to have some capacity online for 2017; we have pushed that back by about ten years ... something around [2027],"
• 2017 - one of the completion dates for DXB to shift some or all commercial services to DWC, or something. Revised to 2027 in Mar 2012.
• 27 Oct 2013 - first passenger flights scheduled to start at DWC (03 Apr 2013 reports).
• 28 Apr 2011 - Dubai Airports launched general aviation operations at DWC.
• 24 Feb 2011 - UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) regulatory approval awarded for flights carrying up to 50 passengers and crew.
• Jun 2010 - first cargo flights launched at DWC Airport.

Last update Wednesday 01-Mar-2017. Page development 4L 5C.

---

www.dubaifaqs.com/al-maktoum-international-airport.php (PDF and print version).

Abu Dhabi AUH ABD ADB, Ajman AJM, Al Ain AAN, Dubai DXB, Fujairah FUJ, Ras Al Khaimah RAK, Sharjah SHJ, Umm Al Quwain UAQ

DubaiFAQs UAE information guide. Copyright © 2004-2024 www.dubaifaqs.com, Dubai, UAE - United Arab Emirates | blog | Facebook | Twitter |