The GCC Journal

The GCC’s New Airport Race

Five Gulf states are building or expanding major airports simultaneously, investing over $100 billion in a competition for the skies that will reshape regional connectivity for decades

The Gulf is in the middle of the largest simultaneous airport construction program in aviation history. Dubai is building a $35 billion megahub designed to handle 260 million passengers a year. Riyadh is constructing a 57-square-kilometer airport with six runways and a target of 185 million passengers. Kuwait is replacing its international terminal with a Foster + Partners trefoil. Bahrain has just completed a LEED Gold-certified terminal. And Abu Dhabi’s massive Terminal A opened in late 2023 with capacity for 45 million travelers. The numbers are staggering, and the ambitions behind them even more so.

Here is what each project involves, what it says about its country’s strategy, and what it means for the future of Gulf aviation.

Dubai: Al Maktoum International (DWC)

The world’s largest airport, designed for 260 million passengers

The headline project is the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in Dubai South, which will eventually replace Dubai International (DXB) as the emirate’s primary hub. The $34.8 billion (AED 128 billion) expansion features five parallel runways, approximately 400 gates, a four-concourse terminal, and a projected ultimate capacity of 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually. The transition from DXB to DWC is planned for 2032, when Dubai International is expected to reach its practical capacity of around 114 million passengers.

The airport will be the centerpiece of Dubai South, an entirely new city being built around it with eight neighborhoods, a mix of residential and commercial districts, and capacity for a million residents. Sustainability and automation are central to the design: biometric processing aims to create a “frictionless” passenger journey from curb to gate. The planned Etihad Rail network is expected to include a DWC stop, allowing passengers to check in luggage at train stations before arriving at the airport. Full project completion is not expected before 2057, but Phase 1 operations will begin well before that.

Riyadh: King Salman International Airport

A 57 sq km mega-airport with six runways and a direct metro link

Saudi Arabia’s entry in the airport race is King Salman International Airport (KSIA), being built on the site of the existing King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The scale is extraordinary: 57 square kilometers, six parallel runways, three new terminals (in addition to the existing King Khalid terminals), residential and leisure facilities, and logistics infrastructure. The initial target is 100 million passengers annually, with a long-term vision of 185 million passengers and 3.5 million tonnes of cargo. Construction of the third runway began in January 2026, and a new 40-million-passenger terminal is scheduled to start construction this year, with airport operations beginning in 2029.

KSIA will also serve as the home base for Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier, which is preparing to debut with its inaugural Riyadh to London service in early 2026. The airport is a PIF (Public Investment Fund) company, reflecting its status as a strategic national project under Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia’s broader aviation ambition includes a new Hajj and Umrah terminal at Jeddah (15 million passengers) and an expanded airport at Abha (capacity increasing tenfold to 13 million passengers).

Abu Dhabi: Terminal A

A 780,000 sqm facility already open and operating below capacity

Abu Dhabi’s contribution to the race is already built and operational. Terminal A (the Midfield Terminal) at Abu Dhabi International Airport opened in November 2023 after years of delays. The 780,000-square-meter facility can handle 79 aircraft simultaneously and has capacity for 45 million passengers annually. In its first full year, it processed around 31 million, meaning it is still comfortably below capacity and well-positioned to absorb growth. The terminal serves as Etihad Airways’ hub and was conceived to support the airline’s ambitious (if subsequently scaled back) network strategy. Its quality has been recognized with strong passenger reviews and Skytrax awards, and it represents the current state of the art in Gulf airport design.

Kuwait: The Foster + Partners Terminal

A trefoil-plan terminal for 25 million passengers

Kuwait International Airport’s new terminal, designed by Foster + Partners, features a distinctive three-winged trefoil plan with 1.2-kilometer facades extending from a central space 25 meters high. Designed for 25 million passengers annually, the terminal emphasizes climate-responsive design for one of the world’s hottest inhabited regions, with cooling water cascades in the baggage reclaim area and a landscaped approach that transitions from desert-native planting to a lush oasis. It is a smaller project than Dubai or Riyadh, but architecturally one of the most distinctive, and it represents Kuwait’s most significant infrastructure investment in a generation.

Bahrain: The Quiet Overachiever

LEED Gold certification, three Skytrax awards, and a sea-to-air cargo hub

Bahrain International Airport completed its modernization program in 2022, adding a new passenger terminal, an Express Cargo Village, and a multi-story car park. The project cost $1.1 billion, a fraction of Dubai’s or Riyadh’s budgets, but its impact has been outsized. The terminal received LEED Gold certification for sustainable design and operation, and in 2025 won three Skytrax World Airport Awards. Bahrain has also developed a Global Sea-to-Air Hub that connects the airport to the nearby Khalifa bin Salman Port, enabling a two-hour bonded transfer between ship and plane, cutting delivery times by half and costs by 40% compared to alternative routes. Plans are underway for a further expansion to 40 million passengers.

The Bigger Picture

Infrastructure as economic strategy

The GCC airport race is not simply about capacity; it is about economic positioning. Each project reflects a distinct national strategy. Dubai is defending its status as the world’s premier aviation super-connector by building an airport that no competitor can match on sheer scale. Riyadh is betting that a 185-million-passenger hub will make Saudi Arabia a destination, not just a stopover, anchoring its Vision 2030 tourism and business ambitions. Abu Dhabi has already delivered a world-class terminal and is using spare capacity as a competitive advantage. Kuwait is investing in architectural identity and climate-responsive design. And Bahrain is proving that a smaller, smarter airport with better logistics integration can compete with neighbors that outspend it ten to one.

The combined investment runs well over $100 billion, and the combined target capacity exceeds 750 million passengers per year across five countries with a total population of roughly 60 million. Whether the demand materializes to fill all of these terminals is one of the defining questions of Gulf infrastructure over the coming decades. But the scale of the bet tells you something important about how the GCC sees its future: not as a region on the periphery of global connectivity, but as the hub through which the world’s traffic flows.