Emirates breaks ground on US$ 5.1bn engineering mega-facility at Dubai South

Emirates has officially broken ground on its new US$ 5.1 billion engineering complex at Dubai South, set to become the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, further strengthening Dubai’s position as a global aviation hub.

The state-of-the-art facility is being developed by China Railway Construction Corporation, while Artelia has been appointed as project consultant.

Spanning 1.1 million square metres, the massive complex will rank among the world’s largest buildings by volume and will also become the GCC’s largest steel-structure facility.

A key highlight of the project is the world’s only hangar complex capable of simultaneously servicing 28 wide-body aircraft, alongside two dedicated aircraft paint hangars. The facility will also feature the world’s largest free-span aircraft hangar with a width of 285 metres, the world’s largest dedicated landing gear workshop, 77,000 square metres of specialised maintenance and repair workshop space, and 380,000 square metres allocated for storage and logistics operations.

Designed with sustainability at its core, the complex aims to achieve LEED Platinum certification across all facilities. Solar panels and multiple energy-efficient technologies will be integrated throughout the site to reduce environmental impact.

Construction is expected to be completed by mid-2030. Initially, the hangar complex will support heavy maintenance operations and accommodate overflow projects from the existing Emirates Engineering Centre at Dubai International Airport (DXB).