€32bn airport plan takes off

Dubai’s ruler has endorsed a $32bn expansion plan for the city’s second airport that officials envision will eventually become the world’s biggest, the Middle Eastern commercial hub’s airport operator said.

The vast building project aims to give the airport, known as Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, the capacity to handle more than 200m passengers per year.

The first phase of the expansion alone aims to build enough runway and terminal space to handle 120m passengers a year and 100 double-decker Airbus A380 jets at any given time.

The world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, handled 94.4m people last year.

Once complete in six to eight years, the new Dubai airport will boast five parallel runways spaced far enough apart so they can all be used at the same time and spread over 56 sq km.