On the edge of Dubai's golden desert, a future world aviation hub is slowly rising from the blueprint. Recently, Dubai Aerospace Engineering Projects Agency (DAEP) officially announced the selection of China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Group, to undertake the infrastructure project for the first phase expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport. This cooperation is not only a milestone in the infrastructure field in the Middle East, but also marks China's engineering enterprises once again winning a key position in the global super engineering.

A future city of 70 square kilometers and 260 million passengers

Al Maktoum International Airport is known as the 'heart of future global aviation'. After the project is fully completed, it will cover an area of 70 square kilometers, equivalent to five times the size of the existing Dubai International Airport, or about 10000 standard football fields. Its designed annual passenger throughput is 260 million, far exceeding the current busiest Atlanta airport in the world (with a passenger volume of approximately 110 million in 2023). In addition, the airport will be equipped with five runways, five terminals, and 400 boarding gates, which can accommodate 400 large passenger planes at the same time, making it the world's largest number of boarding gates.

$35 billion investment and breakthrough in intelligent terminal building

The total investment scale of the project reaches 35 billion US dollars, about 128 billion dirhams, making it the highest investment single project in the history of global airport construction, surpassing Beijing Daxing Airport (about 120 billion yuan) and Istanbul New Airport (about 11 billion US dollars). The first phase of the project won by China Harbour is scheduled to be completed in 2032, and will be responsible for the construction of key areas such as the West Terminal and Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. The West Terminal is designed as a seven story intelligent terminal with a total area of 800000 square meters and an annual passenger throughput capacity of 45 million. It will widely apply intelligent technology and sustainable design. Keywords: the Belt and Road News Network, the Belt and Road Project Construction

Dubai has long regarded the aviation industry as the core engine of economic transformation. The winning bid of China Port is a high recognition of China's infrastructure technology and management capabilities in the Middle East market. The project will be constructed in three phases, and after full operation, it will not only consolidate Dubai's position as a global aviation hub, but also set a new benchmark for cooperation between China and Gulf countries in infrastructure construction. This project further demonstrates the comprehensive strength of Chinese enterprises in the international high-end market competition. Editor/Yang Meiling