Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) has awarded a contract for an automated people mover (APM) system at Al Maktoum International Airport that will become the largest airport transit network of its kind in the world, Khaleej Times reported.

The contract was awarded to a three-company consortium comprising Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), its Dubai-based subsidiary MHI Mobility Engineering Services (MHI-MESC), and Indian conglomerate Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T), the report said.

The APM system will span approximately 50 kilometres and connect nine stations under the first phase of the airport's development, according to Khaleej Times.

That would make it far larger than the current record-holders: Skylink at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in the United States, the longest such system at about 8 kilometres, and The Plane Train at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the US, which carries around 91 million passengers annually.

Under the contract, Mitsubishi Heavy and its subsidiary will design, procure, and test the system's 165 vehicles and its signalling technology, and will oversee overall system integration. L&T will design, procure, test, and construct the remaining subsystems on-site, the report added.

Completion is scheduled for December 2031

The project forms part of Dubai's wider plan to develop Al Maktoum International Airport into one of the world's largest hub airports. The facility is targeted to open in 2032 and, once fully operational, is expected to handle 260 million passengers annually, with further phased expansion planned beyond that.

The new APM network is intended to connect the airport's terminals and major facilities, smoothing passenger flow, cutting travel times and supporting efficient operations as the airport scales up to meet rising aviation demand in the region.

Source: Khaleej Times