Dubai International Airport (DXB) southern runway will be closed for 45 days in 2019 to conduct a comprehensive upgrade designed to boost safety, service and capacity levels.

DXB southern runway (12R-30L) is nearing the end of its design life and requires complete resurfacing and replacement of the airfield ground lighting and supporting infrastructure. The southern runway refurbishment project will involve the placement of approximately 60,000 tonnes of asphalt and 8,000m3 of concrete to strengthen and resurface the runway and the adjacent taxiways.

Dubai Airports will also use the opportunity to install 800 km of primary cables and replace over 5,500 runway lights with more modern, economic and environmentally friendly technology. To limit the impact on service, the upgrade work is scheduled to take place from April 16 to May 30 when passenger traffic is historically low.

Airlines will be required to reduce their operations to DXB due to the significant capacity reduction resulting from single runway operations during the closure period. During the runway upgrade, Dubai World Central (DWC) will be an available alternative to absorb affected scheduled flights as well as charter, cargo and general aviation operations.

Dubai International Airport operates 24/7, 365 days per year with over 1,100 aircraft movements per day featuring predominantly wide-body aircraft.