Dubai's new airport terminal promises easier and faster check-in enabled by AI

The new $35 billion terminal at DWC will be 'like a small airport to navigate', Dubai Airports chief executive says

A rendering of Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, that will have annual capacity for 260 million passengers. Photo: Dubai Airports

Dubai will use artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology to redesign the check-in, security and immigration procedures at its planned passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) for faster and easier “flow” of travellers through the massive facility.

The $35 billion airport terminal with a capacity of 260 million annual passengers is currently still in the detailed design phase and there is an opportunity to get rid of “legacy processes” that have plagued the aviation industry for years, Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports' chief executive, said.

“We're determined to break free from those processes and Dubai has a particularly fantastic opportunity to design a completely new operating model, which consists of high-flow and minimal disruptions to passengers when they go through the process of check-in and arrival,” Mr Griffiths told The National on Thursday.

“The whole of the immigration, security and customs process, we intend to recede into the background. They will still be as robust as they are today but enabled by technology and AI processes so that when people arrive by plane at the airport to the Arrivals process or they depart … they literally flow through those processes without having to stop.”

The planned changes at the new terminal in DWC are improvements on operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB) that already harnesses technology from smart gates to biometrics for faster processes.

The Dubai government is proceeding with the expansion of its second hub, Al Maktoum International Airport, in anticipation of a surge in visitors over the next decade. That airport now has a capacity of 32.5 million passengers, handling mainly cargo and some low-cost airlines.

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  The Dubai government has approved designs for a new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport and has started construction at a cost of Dh128 billion. Photo: Dubai government via AP

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  Spread across 70 square kilometres, the new airport will be five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport. Photo: Dubai government via AP

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  Once complete, Al Maktoum International Airport will have "the world's largest capacity", reaching up to 260 million passengers. Photo: Dubai government via AP

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  The Al Maktoum International Airport will fully absorb Dubai International Airport’s operations within 10 years. Photo: Dubai government via AP

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  A satellite image shows the site of Al Maktoum International Airport. The airport will feature 400 gates, five parallel runways and new aviation technology. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP

Dubai Airports is also investing heavily in reducing dwell time at the new terminal, Mr Griffiths said. This refers to the amount of time an aircraft spends on the ground at a gate or parked between flights, which has implications for operational efficiency.

To reduce dwell time and process passengers faster through the airport, the massive facility will aim to recreate the feel of efficiency and speed at smaller hubs.

“What we want to avoid is creating an airport for 260 million passengers that feels like an airport for 260 million passengers: everyone loves small airports because they're easy to navigate, easy to walk around and there are short distances to the gate and they have a very compact and efficient design,” he said.

“We want to recreate that at scale by making sure that the airport is effectively a series of small airports entailed within … and that operating philosophy is very different from what we see today.”

Open doors in 2033

Designing these operational changes into a project of DWC's scale “takes a lot of work” and the plan is to complete the airport within the next 10 years.

The current plan is to open the new terminal in 2033, according to Mr Griffiths.

The timeline to complete the detailed design phase is “pretty short, because if we're going to open the doors in the terminal in 2033, which is the current plan, that is important to build such an incredibly large piece of infrastructure,” he said.

“Time if definitely against us and we're working very diligently and trying our hardest to make sure we bring this to fruition very quickly.”

The process requires “forensic intelligence” and a “deep understanding” of the challenges and new technology that will be applied at the new terminal, said Mr Griffiths.

Dubai Airports and its related aviation partners, including Dubai Police, GDRFA, Dubai Customs, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Dubai Air Navigation Services, are forecast to contribute Dh89 billion ($24.2 billion) – or 15 per cent of Dubai’s forecast GDP in 2030, according to a new study by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Emirates airline and Dubai Airports.

These entities will support a growing number of jobs, which is forecast to reach 516,000 in 2030.

This is up from last year when Dubai Airports and the aviation entities contributed Dh62 billion in gross to the economy, or 12 per cent of Dubai's GDP, and supported 396,000 jobs across the emirate.