Dubai is looking to restart plans for a USD 33 bn expansion of the Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali,MEED reports, citing sources it says are in the know. Talks are ongoing and stakeholders have been informally told to be on the ready for a restart, according to the report.

Plans to expand the airport to handle 120 mn passengers a year by 2025 first kicked off in 2014 but were delayed till 2030 due to several disruptions, including falling oil prices, the pandemic, and priority being given to Dubai’s Expo 2020, according to MEED. Firms were competing for a USD 2.7 bn contract to develop the airport’s substructure — a complex underground network that would handle the movement of people, baggage, as well as a range of support services — when the pandemic hit and the tenders were put on hold, MEED reports.

A rebound in traffic numbers at the airport has given the project renewed impetus, MEED reports. Dubai’s airport received 66.1 mn passengers in 2022, and while this is well below the 86.4 mn visitors recorded in 2019, projections indicate the airport’s traffic will return to pre-pandemic levels by 2024, the news agency reported.

Regional rivalry: Saudi Arabia had recently also announced plans to build the world’s largest airport — King Salman International Airport in Riyadh — with the capacity to host 120 mn passengers annually by 2030. That announcement came closely on the heels of another plan to establish KSA's second flagship carrier, Riyadh Air, which is angling to become the region’s largest airline by revenue.