By Victor Shalton
Dubai Airport Closes Nothern Runway for Runway Refurbishment
Dubai Airports has confirmed plans to close Dubai, The United Emirates’ International Airport northern runway for a 45-day period between May 9 and June 22, 2022, to carry out refurbishment that will ensure continued safety and efficient operations.
While regular runway maintenance at the airport is scheduled on a weekly basis, more extensive upgrades such as the one planned require a complete closure of the runway.
Since Dubai International Airport is a dual runway operation, the hub will continue to welcome guests throughout this period. However, a number of flights will be redirected to Dubai World Central (DWC) — Dubai’s second airport — to limit the impact on service during the closure period.
Dubai Airports has advised passengers who are due to travel into or out of Dubai during the closure period to check with their respective airlines the airport and/or terminal of arrival/departure ahead of their journeys.
The last time this level of work was carried out on the northern runway was in 2014 — while the southern runway underwent similar improvements in 2019.
FlyDubai to Operate from Dubai World Central
Meanwhile, Flydubai will operate flights to select destinations from Dubai World Central (DWC) in order to provide more travel options to passengers during the northern runway refurbishment project announced by Dubai Airports.
The carrier will operate flights to 34 destinations from DWC during the period of the refurbishment project to ensure minimum disruption to passengers’ travel plans.
During this period flights to five of these destinations will also be available from Dubai Airport.
Flights to all other flydubai destinations will continue to operate from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport.
Flydubai’s chief executive officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith said, “As we saw in 2019, runway enhancement programs continue to support the long-term vision for Dubai as it reinforces its position as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs. We look forward to the completion of the northern runway refurbishment program and the efficiencies it will bring to our home at Dubai International (DXB). With flydubai flights operating to select destinations from DWC, we aim to provide our passengers with as much choice as possible to travel across our network with minimum disruption as more countries open up for travel.”
Flights to 34 destinations from flydubai’s network of more than 90 destinations will operate from DWC during the runway refurbishment project including flights to Kuwait City, New Delhi, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Mumbai, India; Muscat, Oman; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Following the completion of the runway refurbishment project on 22 June 2022, flydubai will resume its flights to all destinations from Dubai International (DXB).
Passengers traveling from DWC will enjoy complimentary parking at the airport. In addition, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will provide complimentary bus service between all terminals at Dubai and DWC every 30 minutes.
Victor Shalton’s love for aviation can be traced to when he was 11-years-old. As a seasoned aviation writer, he takes pride in providing the best aviation coverage around the globe and is passionate about advancing his skills in the aviation space. In addition, he loves travelling, writing, arts and while his speaking engagements have taken him around the world, he is proud to call Nairobi home.