On May 18, Emirates officially launched the construction of a massive engineering complex at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). The $5.1 billion project is being built by the China Railway Construction Corporation. The new center is designed to fully meet the future maintenance needs of global aviation.
The new facility will cover a record area of 1.1 million square meters, making it one of the largest buildings in the world by volume and the largest steel structure in the Middle East.
The key feature of the complex will be a gigantic column-free hangar measuring 285 meters in length — the longest in the world. In total, the mega-complex will be able to accommodate 28 wide-body aircraft simultaneously, allowing it to service even the largest next-generation passenger airliners.
In addition to the main maintenance docks, the site will include two ultra-modern aircraft painting hangars, 77,000 square meters of specialized facilities for parts manufacturing and servicing, and 380,000 square meters of logistics and warehouse space.
Construction is expected to be completed by the middle of 2030, after which large-scale maintenance operations will begin. Initially, the new center at DWC Airport will help reduce the workload on Emirates’ existing facilities at Dubai International Airport (DXB) and will handle the most complex heavy maintenance tasks for aircraft.
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