Dubai’s DWC Airport Shift Could Start in 2027: What Travellers Need to Know

Dubai Airports has given its clearest recent outline yet of how the long-planned move from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) could begin. At a Government of Dubai Media Office briefing published on 11 September 2026, Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths said DWC’s development is moving ‘full speed ahead’ and identified the airport’s second runway as the next major infrastructure milestone, due by the end of 2027.

The immediate passenger-facing detail is smaller than some headlines make it sound. Griffiths said flydubai could potentially move five or six aircraft from DXB to DWC as early as next year. That would be an early operational step, not the wholesale relocation of flydubai, Emirates or Dubai’s passenger traffic. The broader move is tied to DWC’s much larger first phase, which Dubai Airports says is expected to come on stream in the early 2030s.

That distinction matters. A traveller reading only ‘Dubai airport move starts in 2027’ could reasonably assume their usual DXB flight is about to switch airports. The official briefing does not say that. It describes a phased transition in which extra capacity is added at DWC over time, with the eventual move of DXB operations taking place once DWC’s first major phase is available.

DWC already operates today, but the scale being built is dramatically larger than its current passenger role. Dubai Airports says the first major phase of the expanded airport is planned to provide capacity for 150 million passengers a year. The long-term masterplan is larger again, with ultimate capacity planned for up to 260 million passengers annually.

Before that passenger capacity arrives, the runway system has to grow. Griffiths said DWC’s second runway is expected to open by the end of 2027. Two runways are intended to support the initial 150-million-passenger phase; more would come into use as terminal capacity expands. When fully developed, the airport is planned to have five runways, four in regular use and one available as a standby.

For residents, the runway milestone is a useful marker because it turns the DWC story from a distant mega-project into a sequence of operational changes that can be watched year by year. For visitors, however, runway construction is not the same thing as a change to their ticket. Your booking remains governed by the airport code shown by the airline: DXB for Dubai International or DWC for Al Maktoum International.

The most immediate change flagged by Griffiths is the possibility that flydubai may shift five or six aircraft to DWC from 2027. He presented that as part of a gradual process designed to create room for growth as DXB approaches its practical capacity limits. A small transfer could free slots at DXB while allowing flydubai to build experience and activity at DWC before the larger move later in the programme.

The word ‘potentially’ is important. The briefing outlines an operational direction, not a published passenger timetable showing which routes, flight numbers or dates would move. Until flydubai issues route-specific schedules, travellers should not guess that a particular flight will use DWC just because the airline may place a handful of aircraft there.

If a route does move, the airport difference is significant enough to notice. DXB and DWC are separate airports in different parts of Dubai. A hotel transfer, taxi plan, car hire return or connection strategy built around one should not automatically be reused for the other. The practical rule is simple: check the airport code on every booking confirmation, especially when schedules are changed or reissued.

Nothing in the 11 September briefing suggests Dubai International will close in 2027. Quite the opposite: Dubai Airports expects DXB to continue growing while DWC is built. The official briefing says DXB is expected to handle around 70 million passengers in 2026 and to reach 100 million annual passengers by the end of 2027 as airline capacity and demand continue to recover and expand.

Dubai Airports puts DXB’s maximum capacity at about 115 million passengers a year. That ceiling is one reason DWC is being developed on a much larger scale. But the replacement is not being treated as an overnight airport swap. Griffiths said the broader transition would be phased over several months once the required capacity exists at DWC.

So if you are visiting Dubai in late 2026 or through 2027, there is no reason to rewrite an itinerary on the assumption that DXB disappears. Use the airport shown on the ticket. If an airline changes the airport, treat that as a material itinerary change and re-check ground transport, connection time and accommodation transfers.

For people who live in Dubai, the DWC build-out is not just an aviation story. A larger share of airport activity around Dubai South will influence commuting patterns, staff transport, logistics, road demand and the way businesses position themselves around the city’s southern growth corridor. The official briefing also says Dubai Airports is exploring how the new airport can integrate with the city’s transport network.

That integration is worth watching, but residents should separate confirmed construction milestones from future transport concepts. The airport’s second runway and the first major passenger-capacity phase have stated timelines. The exact public-transport pattern that will serve every passenger movement later in the transition will evolve as the wider airport and city infrastructure is delivered.

The useful near-term signals are therefore concrete ones: airline announcements naming DWC, changes to staff or passenger access, new road or public-transport links, and confirmed opening dates for terminal capacity. Those are the developments that will change daily behaviour. Concept images and long-range masterplans explain direction, but they do not tell you which airport to drive to next Tuesday.

For now, the best preparation is boring but effective: read the three-letter airport code. Dubai’s two airports are not interchangeable labels for the same terminal complex. If your confirmation says DXB, plan for Dubai International. If it says DWC, plan for Al Maktoum International. Do this again after any airline schedule-change email rather than relying on the first version of the itinerary saved months earlier.

If you have separate tickets, a self-transfer or a long layover that involves changing airports, allow for the fact that moving between DXB and DWC means travelling across the city. Do not build a tight connection on the assumption that you can walk between terminals or use an airside transfer. Verify the latest ground-transport options and realistic travel time for the day and time you are travelling.

Package travellers should also re-check included transfers if an airline changes airport. A hotel or tour operator that was expecting a DXB arrival may need the updated flight and airport details. Residents collecting friends or family should ask for the airport code and terminal rather than relying on the phrase ‘Dubai airport’. As DWC activity increases, that small wording change will prevent increasingly expensive mistakes.

The DWC transition is fundamentally about capacity. Dubai’s aviation model depends on room for airlines to grow, for more people to connect through the city and for Dubai itself to receive more visitors and residents. DXB has continued to expand, but Dubai Airports says its practical upper capacity is around 115 million passengers a year. The first major DWC phase alone is planned for 150 million.

The airport is also being designed around a different passenger experience. Griffiths said Dubai Airports wants technology to remove many conventional queues and processes, with baggage drop, facial recognition and other systems potentially making the journey feel less like a sequence of checkpoints. Those ideas are part of the design direction rather than a promise that every future passenger will experience the same process from day one.

For the city, the significance is that airport capacity and urban growth are being planned together. For a traveller, the significance is more practical: Dubai will eventually have a different main gateway. The shift starts to become relevant only when an airline, flight or transfer actually moves. Until then, the current booking details remain the authority for your trip.

Confirmed in the Dubai Airports briefing: DWC development is progressing; the second runway is targeted for the end of 2027; the first major phase is planned for the early 2030s with capacity for 150 million passengers annually; the long-term airport is planned for up to 260 million; and the eventual DXB-to-DWC transition is intended to be phased rather than an overnight move.

Also stated, but still provisional at passenger level: flydubai could move five or six aircraft as early as 2027. The briefing does not publish the affected routes, flight numbers or exact passenger start date. Those details require later confirmation from the airline and airport before anyone should alter a booking or ground-transport plan.

That is the line Totally Dubai will keep using as this story develops. Infrastructure milestones can be reported as milestones. Passenger changes should be reported only when they are tied to a real airline schedule, terminal opening, airport notice or official transport update. The DWC project is moving quickly, but useful travel information is about what changes for a person on a particular journey, not merely what exists on the masterplan.

The 2027 runway milestone and the possibility of a small flydubai transfer make DWC more relevant to ordinary Dubai travel planning than it was a year ago. They are signs that the long transition has practical steps attached to it now. They are not signs that every Dubai flight is about to leave DXB.

For residents, watch the operational and transport changes around Dubai South. For visitors, keep checking the airport code on your ticket and any revised itinerary. For connecting passengers, be especially cautious about separate tickets that could require an airport change. Those habits will remain useful as more DWC capacity comes online.

The headline version is simple: Dubai’s future airport is moving from plan to phased operation, but the full passenger shift remains an early-2030s project. If you see a 2027 date, read what the date actually refers to. Right now it refers to major runway capacity and a possible small flydubai step—not the closure of DXB.