Expansion of Dubai's Al Maktoum airport delayed to 2018

An expansion of the Al Maktoum Airport has been delayed to 2018, according to reports on Wednesday.

Dubai Airports said that it had made an “adjustment to the timeline” in back in January, but confirmed that the expansion will be scheduled to complete next year due construction works, trials and testing.

A spokesperson from Dubai Airports told Construction Week:  “We look at completion in terms of the facility’s readiness to deliver optimal customer service levels, which involves construction, trails and testing. All three are included in the consideration.”

The Dubai government said on Sunday that it had secured $3bn in long-term financing for expansion of its airports, which are forecast to serve 146.3 million passengers by 2025.

Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh, director general of DOF, said: “In line with Dubai’s vision to maintain its status as one of the world’s most important cultural and commercial centres, the planned expansion of the city’s airports is critically important, and our department is proud to play a vital role in their ongoing financing, just as we have with other similarly major projects.”

Al Maktoum is set to handle 240 million passengers a year when in full operation, though an exact date of when that will be has yet to be announced.