Emirates starts work to expand aircraft maintenance capacity
Emirates has broken ground on a $5.1 billion engineering complex at Dubai South, which is expected to become one of the world's largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities.
The facility is being developed by China Railway Construction Corporation, while Artelia has been appointed as project consultant, according to a press release.
Spanning 1.1 million square metres, the complex is expected to rank among the world's largest buildings by volume and become the GCC's largest steel-structure facility, the airline said.
A key feature of the project will be a hangar complex capable of simultaneously servicing 28 wide-body aircraft, along with two dedicated aircraft paint hangars.
The facility will also include a 285-metre-wide free-span aircraft hangar, a dedicated landing gear workshop, 77,000 square metres of specialised maintenance and repair workshop space, and 380,000 square metres for storage and logistics operations.
Emirates said the complex has been designed with sustainability as a core focus and aims to achieve LEED Platinum certification across all facilities.
Solar panels and multiple energy-efficient technologies will be integrated across the site to reduce environmental impact.
Construction is expected to be completed by mid-2030.
In the initial phase, the hangar complex will support heavy maintenance operations and accommodate overflow projects from the existing Emirates Engineering Centre at Dubai International Airport.
