Dubai’s DWC airport: Dh55 billion in new contracts expected by year-end

Dubai Airports is set to award a further Dh55 billion worth of construction contracts by the end of the year, as work on the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) continues at full pace, its chief executive Paul Griffiths has revealed.

Speaking to reporters at a media roundtable on Wednesday, Griffiths said Dh13 billion worth of contracts are already under construction, with the additional Dh55 billion to be awarded in various packages over the coming months.

“We've already in the last 15 months committed 10 million work hours of activity to the new project,” Griffiths said.

“17,000 piles are already in the ground, and 45 million cubic metres of earth has been moved at DWC. What other proof do you need that our confidence in the future is completely unfazed by the development of the new airport?”

No slowdown in construction

Asked whether construction had slowed given the wider regional situation, Griffiths was blunt.

“I have a one-word answer, and that is no,” he said.

He acknowledged that global supply chains remain under strain, a challenge he said has persisted “really since the end of COVID”, but insisted that Dubai Airports was working around it.

“We're mobilising suppliers from all the way across the world to ensure the project is completed on time,” he said.

Griffiths said the scale of activity at the site demonstrates that DWC is already well beyond the planning stage.

“All the numbers I've quoted at you are actually things that are happening now, and it reinforces our confidence that Al Maktoum International is not some theoretical project; it's actually happening,” he said.

The expansion of Al Maktoum International is part of Dubai’s long-term aviation strategy, with the airport ultimately planned to become the emirate’s main aviation hub. The project is expected to significantly increase Dubai’s passenger and cargo capacity as demand for air travel continues to grow.

With Dh55 billion in additional contracts expected to be awarded by year-end, construction activity at DWC is set to accelerate further in the coming months.