Dubai's primary airport is to undertake a refurbishment of its southern parallel runway next year, which will involve closing it for more than six weeks.
Runway 12R/30L will be shut for a 45-day period from 16 April 2019, the airport's operator states.
Dubai International is one of the three busiest airports by passenger numbers, having handled over 88 million last year, but it ranks relatively low in terms of aircraft movements owing to the extensive use of high-capacity transports – such as the Airbus A380 – by base carrier Emirates.
But the airport's operator, Dubai Airports, says the hub still deals with 1,100 aircraft movements daily and airlines will be required to reduce services to counter the reduction in capacity.
"While ongoing runway maintenance is scheduled on a weekly basis, more extensive upgrades require a complete closure of the runway," it says.
Closure will coincide with a "seasonal lull", it adds, to help mitigate the impact on operations. Dubai World Central will act as an alternate destination.
The northern runway, 12L/30R, underwent a refurbishment four years ago which also required a prolonged withdrawal from use.
Dubai Airports says the work on the southern runway will strengthen its surface and that of adjacent taxiways, and will also involve replacement of over 5,500 runway lamps.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
