The northern runway closure will see 1,000 flights per week diverted…

Dubai International Airport (DXB) has closed its northern runway for 45 days of scheduled refurbishment, affecting up to 1,000 flights per week between Monday May 9 and Wednesday June 22. During this time, flights will operate from DXB’s southern runway, or will move to Dubai’s second hub, Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) or Sharjah International Airport.

If you’re flying out this month, take a look at the airlines that are moving operations below. 

flydubai

Flydubai has confirmed that flights to 34 destinations, including Oman, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will operate from DWC. The full list of flights moving to DWC can be found here. If your destination is not covered on that list, it will depart as normal from Terminal 2 or Terminal 3 at DXB.

Air India Express

Air India Express flights to the following destinations will operate from either DWC or Sharjah Airport: Mangalore, Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Amritsar, Jaipur and Lucknow. Full details can be found here.

Gulf Air

According to a notice on the Gulf Air website, most of the Bahrain-based airline’s operations will continue to be to and from DXB, although some flights will move to Al Maktoum International. Although a list of which flights are affected hasn’t been published, passengers are advised to check the “Manage My Booking” page on the Gulf Air website to check their flight details.

IndiGo Airlines

IndiGo Airlines has advised travellers to expect schedule changes during the DXB runway closure, report Khaleej Times. In a message to its travel partners, the airline confirmed that some flights will operate from DWC, while others will remain at DXB.

Spice Jet

Flights to Amritsar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Pune are among the affected Spice Jet routes that will shift operations to DWC during the runway closure. Not all flights will move airports though, so passengers are advised to reconfirm their departure and arrival time, as well as the airport before travelling.

A notice to all passengers

To ensure disruption is limited, Dubai Airports advises all passengers travelling during this period to check ahead with their airline to confirm the airport and/or terminal prior.

The last time DXB closed one of its runways was in 2019, when the southern runway was shut from April 16 to May 30 to undergo extensive upgrade work. During that time, Emirates was forced to cancel or reschedule much of its operation. Prior to that, it was 2014 when DXB last operated with just one runway was in 2014, due to upgrade and repair work on both its runways.