Dubai ionic International Airport to close permanently in 2035

One of the world’s most recognisable airports is heading for a final departure.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) is expected to shut permanently in 2035, with its enormous passenger and flight operations gradually transferred to the much larger Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South.

The transition is expected to begin around 2032, allowing airlines and airport authorities several years to move operations without disrupting Dubai’s position as one of the world's leading aviation centres.

When the transfer is complete, DXB — a name synonymous with Dubai’s rise as a global travel hub — will no longer handle the city’s main commercial air traffic.

Instead, the future of Dubai aviation will be centred on Al Maktoum International.

A £28bn airport built for 260 million passengers

Al Maktoum International is already undergoing a massive redevelopment estimated at £28 billion.

The project is designed to create what would become the world's largest airport, with a planned annual capacity of up to 260 million passengers.

The new complex is expected to feature: Five runways, 400 aircraft gates, Capacity for up to 260 million passengers annually, Infrastructure approximately five times larger than DXB.

The transition will include the operations currently handled by Dubai's flagship airlines, including Emirates and flydubai.

The ambition is not simply to build another airport, but to move Dubai's entire aviation ecosystem to a hub capable of accommodating decades of future growth.

From a sandy runway to a global aviation giant

The eventual closure of DXB marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in aviation history.

Dubai International opened on September 30, 1960, with a modest terminal and an 1,800-metre runway constructed from compacted sand.

What began as a relatively small airport grew alongside Dubai itself, eventually becoming one of the most important gateways between Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

In 2025 alone, DXB handled 95.2 million passengers, making it the world's second-busiest airport by total passenger traffic and the world's busiest international airport by international passenger numbers.

Its importance to Dubai's economy and global identity is difficult to overstate.

Yet its next chapter is already being written elsewhere.

Why Dubai is moving on

The decision is ultimately about capacity, efficiency and long-term economics.

Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths previously explained that the transfer would take place once Al Maktoum has enough capacity to absorb DXB's operations.

“There’s no point operating two major airport hubs” so close together, Griffiths said, noting that the two facilities are roughly 70 kilometres apart.

There is also a practical consideration: by the time the transfer becomes possible, DXB's existing infrastructure will be approaching the end of its useful life.

Keeping the airport operating indefinitely would require substantial additional investment to modernise and maintain ageing facilities.

Rather than pouring that money into an increasingly constrained airport, Dubai is choosing to build its next aviation era around an entirely new hub.

A new centre of gravity for Dubai aviation

For passengers, the change will eventually mean that one of the world's most familiar airport codes — DXB — gives way to a new aviation giant in Dubai South.

The transition will be gradual rather than an overnight shutdown, with airlines and services expected to move in phases from around 2032.

By 2035, however, Dubai International's long journey from a sandy runway to a global aviation powerhouse is expected to reach its final destination.

And in its place will stand an airport designed not merely to match DXB's success, but to operate on a scale that could redefine what a global aviation hub looks like.