Major projects Emirates has announced so far
$5.1 billion engineering mega-facility
Emirates this week confirmed construction had started on a new engineering complex at Dubai South, which it says will become the world’s most advanced aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility.
The site will span 1.1 million square metres and include the world’s only hangar complex capable of servicing 28 wide-body aircraft simultaneously.
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The world’s largest free-span aircraft hangar
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The world’s biggest dedicated landing gear workshop
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77,000 square metres of repair workshops
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380,000 square metres of storage and logistics space
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Two aircraft paint hangars
The project is expected to be completed by 2030 and will initially support heavy maintenance operations currently handled at DXB.
Sheikh Ahmed said the project was “a strategic step forward in Dubai’s future-focused aviation ambitions.”
Engine maintenance capabilities
Emirates is also investing heavily in aircraft engine maintenance infrastructure as part of the expansion of its Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre (EEMC).
In May, the airline signed an agreement with GE Aerospace to develop advanced repair capabilities for GE90 and GP7200 engines used on Emirates’ Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s.
The agreement supports Emirates’ $300 million investment into the EEMC expansion.
Separately, Emirates also signed an MoU with Rolls-Royce at the Dubai Airshow 2025 to begin carrying out maintenance, repair and overhaul work on Trent 900 engines powering its A380 fleet from 2027.
Aerospace manufacturing in Dubai
Emirates has also begun building aerospace manufacturing capabilities near its Dubai operations.
At the Dubai Airshow 2025, the airline signed an agreement with Safran to establish a seat manufacturing and assembly facility in Dubai.
The planned 20,000–25,000-square-metre site will initially focus on Business and Economy Class seats for Emirates’ retrofit programme, before potentially expanding further.
Emirates and Safran aim to complete the facility by the fourth quarter of 2027.
New pilot training centre
In September 2025, Emirates opened a new $135 million flight crew training centre in Dubai.
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Six full-flight simulator bays
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Training capacity for Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X pilots
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45,000 additional annual training hours
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54% expansion in yearly pilot training capacity
The centre is part of Emirates’ broader effort to scale up operations as its future fleet expands.
Hospitality, cabin crew training expansion
Emirates also launched the Emirates Centre of Hospitality Excellence in October 2025; a new training facility focused on cabin crew service and hospitality standards.
The $8 million centre includes:
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Training restaurants and lounges
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Tech-enabled classrooms
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Fine dining and wine training programmes
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Hospitality coaching facilities for nearly 25,000 cabin crew
Laundry, logistics expansion
Outside aviation engineering, Emirates Flight Catering is also expanding its support infrastructure.
In July 2025, its laundry subsidiary Linencraft broke ground on a new Dh160 million facility at Dubai Investments Park.
The expansion is expected to:
The company said the move was aimed at meeting growing demand from Dubai’s hospitality and aviation sectors.
Drone cargo and future logistics
Emirates SkyCargo is also exploring future logistics technologies tied to its dual-airport operations model.
At the 2025 Dubai Airshow, Emirates SkyCargo signed an MoU with LODD Autonomous to explore drone-powered cargo delivery using autonomous aircraft developed in the UAE.
The partnership will study how unmanned cargo aircraft could support operations across Emirates’ future airport ecosystem.
While timelines around Emirates’ eventual move to DWC may continue to evolve amid wider regional and global aviation shifts, the scale of investments already underway across Dubai South points to the airline’s long-term direction.
For now, Emirates is steadily building the ecosystem it will need for its next phase of growth at Al Maktoum International Airport.
