Dubai has awarded contracts for Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), including a Dh1 billion ($272 million) deal to build a second runway for its $35-billion terminal expansion in Dubai South, which is set to offer jobs and housing opportunities for a million people.
A Dh75 million separate contract for enabling works in the first phase has also been awarded, while major packages such as the Automated People Mover and Baggage Handling System that are currently in the tendering stage look set to be awarded later this year, Khalifa Al Zaffin, executive chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and chairman of Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects, said on Thursday.
The terminal substructure, early 132kV substations as well as district cooling plants, are in the next set of packages that will be tendered later in 2025.
"The design is being done and we have already started work on the ground," Mr Al Zaffin said at a press briefing on the sidelines of the annual Airport Show in Dubai.
"The airport will be a technological marvel from all aspects. We are trying to make it intuitive, smooth, with a lot of passenger delights."
The first phase, scheduled for completion in 2032, will increase the airport terminal's annual capacity to 150 million passengers.
"We remain fully committed to delivering Al Maktoum International Airport on time," Mr Al Zaffin said.
Ultimately the airport is set to reach a capacity of 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo per year when complete.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) is already reaching maximum capacity, meaning building one of the world's biggest airports to accommodate the expected jump in passenger volume has become a necessity, Mr Al Zaffin said.
The project cost may have some "variation upwards or downwards" but will remain largely within the range of the announced $35 billion, he added when asked if costs are expected to increase.
Economic benefits
In terms of its economic impact, the project is expected to "support up to one million people through employment and housing", which is integral to the development of Dubai South, Mr Al Zaffin said in a statement.
The project will create "thousands" of employment opportunities in key sectors including construction, aviation, logistics, real estate, tourism and cargo. This will stimulate growth in areas surrounding Dubai South, which will lead to increased demand for hotels and real estate developments, he said.
The airport project will create a "ripple effect" across Dubai's economic pillars from airlines and cargo, to hospitality, real estate and logistics, the official added.
The transition from DXB to DWC will happen in a single move to avoid operational challenges and minimise disruptions for passengers, Mr Al Zaffin said.
"We are confident in our ability to execute this shift successfully," he said. Extensive preparations, including an Operational Readiness and Airports Transfer programme will be carried out in advance to ensure a smooth transition and uninterrupted services.
What happens to DXB after all the airlines have moved their operations will be left to the Dubai Government to decide, in line with the emirate's strategic goals, he added.
Advanced technology and robotics
The airport, spanning 70 sq km, will be five times the size of DXB and will feature two passenger terminals and seven concourses, with more than 400 gates to ensure capacity for future growth, the statement said.
Passengers will be transported with the help of automated people movers. The airport will also feature an underground train to ease travel between smaller concourses to create "intimacy at scale", with shorter walking distances, Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said last week.
AI and advanced technology will play a big role in creating a "borderless airport", where passengers will move through quickly without long queues at customs and immigration checkpoints, Mr Al Zaffin said.
"Once you enter the airport, they know who you are, they know where you're coming from and where you're going. They know everything about you and therefore you're processed [quickly]," he said.
The airport will integrate advanced technology such as robotics for baggage handling, security and maintenance. Identifying passengers using biometric data, along with smart security measures and automated check-in processes, will speed up passengers' journeys.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
