flydubai readies $190m Dubai South maintenance centre for 2027 opening

Dubai, UAE - flydubai expects building work on its $190 million Aircraft Maintenance Centre (AMC) at Dubai South to wrap up by the end of 2026, and the facility is due to open for operations during the first quarter of 2027.

Its top executives, headed by Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith, recently walked the site at the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH) on an official inspection, checking progress and how ready the project is for its next stage.

The airline’s commercial, procurement and technology, operations and finance chiefs also took part, touring the buildings with the project management team.

Work on the 32,600-square-metre site started in 2025. flydubai broke ground on 2 July 2025 at a ceremony whose guests included His Excellency Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai South.

The carrier said construction is on schedule. Once it is finished, the centre still has to integrate its systems, commission its technical equipment and prepare its operations before it opens.

According to flydubai, the $190 million programme is a commitment to expanding its own maintenance capability and supporting the long-term growth of its operations, and it ranks among the airline’s largest aviation infrastructure investments.

The complex has been planned around a growing fleet. It will contain hangars reserved for heavy maintenance, workshops for specialised engineering, materials warehousing and offices for administration, and the airline expects 400 skilled technical staff to work there once it is running.

Bringing aircraft maintenance in-house is meant to cut turnaround times, improve fleet availability, tighten quality control and give flydubai more operational flexibility as its network and fleet grow, the company said.

Speaking during the visit, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “The progress of our Aircraft Maintenance Centre at Dubai South highlights a major milestone in flydubai’s journey towards operational self-sufficiency and long-term capability building. As our fleet and destination network continue to scale, bringing dedicated maintenance capabilities in-house gives us greater flexibility, resilience and operational efficiency.”

He added: “This USD 190 million investment programme represents a vital anchor within the Dubai South aviation ecosystem and aligns perfectly with our long-term strategy surrounding Dubai World Central (DWC) over the next decade. By building for the requirements of the future, we remain steadfast in supporting the ambition of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to solidify Dubai’s standing as a world-leading aviation and logistics capital.”

The airline ties the project to its plans for Dubai World Central (DWC) and to the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, whose goal is to make the emirate one of the world’s leading hubs for aviation, trade and logistics.

Sitting next to Al Maktoum International Airport, the AMC is expected to add to Dubai South’s wider aviation cluster and to the development of integrated aviation infrastructure, flydubai said. MBRAH was also advancing construction of its Sky Support Complex at Dubai South in July.

Training is part of the plan as well. The centre will support the airline’s existing Engineering Apprentice Programme (AMEL), which develops technical talent for Dubai’s aviation industry, and add to flydubai’s engineering capacity as it prepares for more fleet and network growth.

The carrier flies to more than 125 destinations and has more than 300 aircraft on order. Eleven Boeing 737 aircraft are due to join it in 2026, lifting the fleet to 100, while deliveries of 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners are scheduled to begin in early 2028.