On Sunday, Dubai Airports announced flights at Dubai International will be reduced by 26 percent while a runway upgrade project is carried out, starting next month.
Dubai Airports said in a statement that while all Emirates flights will continue to operate out of Dubai International during the 80-day upgrade period, the following 14 airlines will operate from Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC), the emirate’s second airport:
Relocating to DWC during the runway upgrade:
Flydubai
PAL Express
Jet Airways
Royal Brunei Airlines
Yemenia Airlines
Equatorial Congo Airlines
Malaysia Airlines
Ural Airlines
These six airlines are already operating from DWC:
Wizz Air
Gulf Air
Jazeera Airlines
Qatar Airways
Eastern Horizon Airlines
Eastern SkyJets
More than 300 flights a week are expected to depart from DWC airport during this period.
During the 80-day period, Dubai Airports is urging passengers to double-check with their respective airlines’ websites to confirm their airport of departure or arrival.
A fleet of luxury courtesy shuttle buses will operate every 30 minutes for passengers connecting between the two airports.
Emirates service at Dubai International:
Emirates will continue to operate to all its worldwide destinations during the runway closure period. However, it confirmed it is planning to park some aircraft and some routes will be operated by larger models in order to compensate for the reduced frequency.
A total of 18 aircraft in May, 20 in June and 21 in July – a mixture of A330s, A340s and B777s – will be parked, while all A380 aircraft will remain in service.
“On routes where we’ve had to reduce frequency, we have upgraded to bigger aircraft where possible to recover part of the capacity. There are also small changes to the timings of some of our flights. All of Emirates operations will remain at Dubai International Airport. As planned, Emirates SkyCargo freighter operations will be dispatched from Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) starting from the 1st May,” the statement added.
Runway upgrade:
The upgrade work will last 80 days during which the runways will be closed alternatively – the southern runway from May 1-31, and the northern runway from May 31 to July 20.
The project involves the resurfacing of the entire 4,000-metre long northern runway, which is nearing the end of its design life, as well as the upgrading of runway lighting and construction of additional taxiways and rapid exits on the southern runway.
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