Al Maktoum International Airport is set to host the highest number of passengers in the world as the authorities in Dubai Sunday gave their assent to add another terminal for travellers at the airfield that would be constructed for a whopping $34.8 billion.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and ruler of Dubai, said on X that the airport capacity of hosting passengers would be reaching up to 260 million.

“It will fully absorb Dubai International Airport’s operations in 10 years,” the Dubai Media Office said.

“As we build an entire city around the airport in Dubai South, demand for housing for a million people will follow. It will host the world’s leading companies in the logistics and air transport sectors,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

“We are building a new project for future generations … Dubai will be the world’s airport, its port, its urban hub, and its new global centre.”

According to media reports, “it will be five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport, which is top-ranked for international traffic.”

The 70-square-kilometre airport will have 400 aircraft gates, five parallel runways, and new aviation technology, alongside the capacity to handle 12 million tonnes of annual cargo, the news agency reported.

The project completion is divided into phases and the first is anticipated to be completed within 10 years, which could allow the facility to accommodate yearly 150 million passengers.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, said: “The new airport, which will ultimately be over five times the size of Dubai International, will prepare the ground for the next 40 years of anticipated growth in Dubai’s aviation sector.”

Sheikh Ahmed, who is also chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group noted: “It will respond to the hub airline ambitious plans in terms of fleet acquisition and passenger growth.”

“The airport is also being designed to strongly contribute to mitigate environmental emissions and aims to achieve LEED gold certification,” he said, adding that “Al Maktoum International is planned in such a way as to represent a leap into the future.”

Dubai International Airport (DXB) last year saw 86.9 million passengers which is a considerable increase of 31.7% on a yearly basis. The total number of flight movements was estimated at 416,405 in 2023.