Meraas plans to open Six Flags theme park in Dubai in 2017

Riders raise their arms as they travel the Kingda Ka rollercoaster at Six Flags amusement park in Jackson, New Jersey. Stan Honda / AFP

Jebel Ali already has an expo site, a port and an aluminium smelter. Soon, however, its skyline of gantry cranes, cooling towers and flaring stacks will be joined by rollercoasters.

Dubai’s Meraas Leisure and Entertainment has struck a deal to launch a Six Flags-branded theme park in Dubai, the latest in a series of partnership deals for its 30 million-square-foot leisure complex in the predominantly industrial area.

Texas-based Six Flags Entertainment, which operates 18 amusement parks across the United States, Canada and Mexico, has struck a strategic partnership with Meraas to open its first branded theme park outside North America.

The park is expected to open to customers in late 2017, according to Six Flags.

“We are delighted to have a world-leading theme park company and a brand like Six Flags on board,” said Raed Al Nuaimi, the chief leisure and entertainment officer for Meraas. “We are confident their presence will perfectly complement our project and further enhance our overall offerings in the leisure and entertainment space.”

Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.

“The cornerstone of our international expansion strategy has always been finding the right partner in the right location and, with Meraas in Dubai, we have done exactly that,” said Jim Reid-Anderson, the chief executive of Six Flags.

The park will be one of five theme parks to be located across Meraas’s complex in Jebel Ali, announced in November 2012 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Initial plans for the scheme included a Bollywood theme park, a water and marine life park, and a children’s theme park.

It was announced last year that Meraas had also entered into an agreement with the UK’s Merlin Entertainment to open a Legoland theme park in Jebel Ali by 2016.

Meraas did not respond to requests for comment on whether construction on the leisure complex had begun yet, nor on when the first facilities were likely to be opened to the public.

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