Dubai's Airport Show aiming to be World's No. 1..........

Dubai's Airport

Aviation began in Dubai in 1937 when the first Imperial Airways flying boat, operating a weekly service between the UK and Pakistan, landed on the Dubai Creek. But it was not until 1959 that Dubai International was established, following the construction of the first airfield on a vast expanse of a wasteland some four kilometres from what was then the edge of the city. The humble facility consisted of an 1800-metre compacted runway, an apron area, a terminal building and a fire station.
The airport was opened a year later in 1960 and was capable of handling aircraft up to the size of a DC-3. Almost a decade later, in 1969, Dubai International accommodated some nine airlines serving a total of 20 destinations. Ten years later, in December 1980 to be more precise, the airport joined the International Civil Airports Organisation (ICAO) as an ordinary member.


Passenger throughput at the airport increased from 4.3 million in 1988 to 9.7 million in 1998, around 125 per cent over a decade. The opening of the Sheikh Rashid Terminal, also known as Terminal 1, in April 2000 marked the opening of a new chapter in Dubai’s aviation history. Built as part of the first phase of the general expansion project at a cost of AED2 billion, the Terminal increased the Airport’s capacity from 10 million to 25 million.

In 2002, Dubai International was ranked the second fastest growing airport in the world according to ACI traffic statistics. The facility handled some 18 million passengers in 2003 and was established as the aviation hub of the Middle East.

The hub of the Middle East took its first steps as the emerging aviation hub of the world in 2008 when on October 14 Dubai Airports opened the much awaited Dubai International Terminal 3 for the exclusive use of Emirates Airline. The flawless opening of the world’s largest single terminal not only expanded Dubai International’s capacity to 60 million, it won the airport accolades from passengers and the aviation industry worldwide.

Growing at an average of 15 per cent annually from 2000 and 2008, Dubai International rose in the ACI’s list of busiest international airports and is now among the top five.

These milestones are important not only from an historical perspective, but also because they give an idea of how much, and how fast, the airport has developed particularly over the past two decades.