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Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International Airport is the official name of a major airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates that opened on 27 June 2010. Previous working names have included "Jebel Ali International Airport", "Jebel Ali Airport City", and "Dubai World Central International Airport". It has been named after the late Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the former ruler of Dubai. It will be the main part of Dubai World Central, a planned residential, commercial and logistics complex scheme. World Central is the world's first truly integrated logistics platform, with most transport modes, logistics and value-added services, including manufacturing and assembly, in a single free economic zone. The new airport will cover an area of 55000 acre. The airport is referred to as "the world’s first purpose-built aerotropolis", with a projected annual capacity of 160 million passengers and 12 million tons of freight.

Construction
The A380-enabled, 4.9 km runway was completed within its projected 600 day construction period and subsequently underwent tests over the following six to eight months in order to fulfill its CAT III-C requirements. Construction of the airport's cargo terminal, the Al Maktoum Airport Cargo Gateway, which cost around US$75 million, was 50% complete by the end of 2008.

During the first phase of the project, the airport is planned to handle around 200,000 tonnes of cargo per year, with the possibility of increasing to 800,000 tonnes. The passenger terminal at this phase is designed to have a capacity of 5 million passengers per year. By 2013, it is planned to be the largest airport in the world in terms of freight handled, moving up to 12 million tonnes per year.

The project was originally expected to be fully operational by 2017, although the 2007–2012 global financial crisis subsequently postponed the completion of the complex to 2027.

Operations
Al Maktoum International Airport opened on 27 June 2010 with one runway and only cargo flights. Passenger operations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The first flight into the airport occurred on 20 June 2010, when an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F landed after a flight from Hong Kong. The flight served as a test for various functions such as air traffic control, movement of aircraft on the ground, and security. According to Emirates, the flight was an "unmitigated success".

On 24 February 2011, the airport was certified to handle passenger aircraft with up to 60 passengers, though according to Dubai Airports Company, Al Maktoum's operator, regular passenger flights were not expected to begin until late 2011.

The first Passenger Aircraft touched down on 28 February 2011, an Airbus A319CJ.

The airport officially opened for passenger flights on 26 October 2013 with Nas Air and Wizz Air as the two carriers to operate from the airport.

Airlines and destinations
At the time of its opening, three cargo service airlines served Al Maktoum International Airport, including RUS Aviation, Aerospace Consortium and European Cargo Services. Fifteen additional airlines have signed a contract to operate flights to the airport.

Cargo
2 Martinair use aircraft in KLM colour scheme on these routes.

Overview
At the heart of this huge new community is the Al Maktoum International Airport, planned as the world's largest passenger and cargo hub, ten times larger than Dubai International Airport which covers an area of 29 km2 and Dubai Cargo Village combined.

If completed as planned, the airport will have an annual cargo capacity of 12 million tonnes, and a passenger capacity of up to 160 million people per year&mdash; which would be more than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which handled 90 million people in 2008, and is currently the world's busiest passenger airport.

Designed for the future, Al Maktoum International Airport proposes to handle all next-generation aircraft, including the Airbus A380 super-jumbo. Up to four aircraft will be able to land simultaneously, 24 hours a day, minimizing in-air queuing.

The airport will include:


 * Five parallel runways, 4.9 km in length, each separated by a distance of 800 m. Six runways were originally planned, but the number was reduced to five in April 2009
 * Three passenger terminals, including two luxury facilities; one dedicated to airlines of The Emirates Group, the second to other carriers, and the third dedicated to low-cost carriers.
 * Multiple concourses
 * 16 cargo terminals with a 12-million tonne capacity
 * Executive and royal jet centres
 * Hotels and shopping malls
 * Support and maintenance facilities: the region's only hub for A, B, and C Checks on all aircraft up to A380 specifications
 * Over 100,000 parking spaces (probably underground) for airport staff and passengers
 * Al Maktoum International Airport and the existing Dubai International Airport will be linked by a proposed high-speed express rail system
 * Al Maktoum International Airport will also be served by the Dubai Metro and a dedicated Dubai World Central light railway

Facilities
The airport is planned to have five 4,900 m parallel runways, with a large passenger complex in the middle. Three runways would straddle at one side of the complex while two more would be located at the other side. Furthermore, each runway would have extended asphalted pathways on either side which would allow aircraft to by-pass other runways and taxiways without disturbing aircraft movements of these runways and taxiways. The airport is the largest component of Dubai World Central. If completed as planned, it will be the world’s largest airport, with 160 million passenger per year capacity and a cargo capacity of 12 million tonnes per year. Its large runways and the distance between them would allow simultaneous takeoffs and landings.

Dubai expectations of an exponential rise in passenger traffic over its skies is built on the presumption that it would become the ideal air hub for transiting travellers from the Asia-Pacific Region, South Asia, Greater Middle-east, Africa, Europe, and Australia (for the Kangaroo route, i.e., Australia to Britain and vice versa).

Upon completion it will be the second largest airport in land area (physical size). Only two other airports are/were larger than Dubai World Central:
 * 1) King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia: 780 km2 of physical land area
 * 2) Montréal-Mirabel International Airport in Montreal, Canada: (392 km2 as originally planned in 1969, but as of December 2006, only about 50 km2)

The facility, however, will initially service cargo airlines. Several large warehouses and hangars line the westernmost part of the airport. These interlinked hangars will stretch from end-to-end of the westernmost runway. Each of these is capable of housing A380 aircraft.

The airport will complement Dubai International Airport, some 40 km away. The airport itself is surrounded by a large logistics hub, a luxurious golf resort, an expansive trade and exhibition facility (3 million square metres of exhibition space, making it the world's largest), a massive commercial district, and a spacious residential area.

Due to the massive physical scale of the masterplan, some claim that the Al Maktoum International Airport is be the most ambitious airport ever envisioned. The latest estimates by the government amount to an $82 billion price tag.