Dubai International Airport is poised to become the busiest airport in the world by the end of this decade, surpassing Beijing and Atlanta.
"The growth rates that we are experiencing are more than double what is being experienced by both Beijing and Atlanta," Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told Bloomberg . "Within perhaps this decade, we should see ourselves exceeding the total traffic through those airports for the No. 1 absolute spots."
Of course, this is hardly the first impressive news coming out about the airport. Considering it's Dubai's airport, servicing an international hub focused on making everything the biggest and the best, it was destined to take the No. 1 spot eventually.
Here is a look at 5 big moments from Dubai International Airport's history.
1. Dubai's first airport opened in 1960
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the former ruler of Dubai, ordered the construction of the airport in 1959 and it was operational by 1960. This original airport had a sand runway .
2. Terminal 2 opened in 1998
A new development master plan for the airport was launched in 1997, seeing the opening of Terminal 2 by 1998. This was a massive step forward in opening up the airport to significantly increased international traffic.
3. Terminal 3 became operational in 2008
It's first arrival was an Emirates flight from Jeddah and it's first departing was an Emirates flight to Doha, Terminal 3 officially opened in October of 2008. Adding capacity for some 47 million additional passengers, transforming the airport into the massive international hub it is today.
4. Dubai became the busiest airport in the world for international traffic in 2014
With 68.9 million international passengers traveling through Dubai International Airport as opposed to 67.8 million London's Heathrow International Airport, Dubai became the the busiest international aviation hub in the world in 2014. Although Dubai has comfortably maintained this position with 78 million passengers last year and expecting 83 million passengers this year, it still remains behind Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport for total passenger traffic (domestic and international).
5. Dubai consistently ranked for having one of the world's best airports
Apparently Donald Trump knows a good airport when he sees one.
Dubai's airport has consistently been ranked as one of the best in the world. In July, Travel and Leisure ranked Dubai International Airport as No. 2 in the world. The airport was also named as the best in the Middle East by the Asian Freight, Logistics, and Supply Chain Awards earlier this year and it was ranked No. 5 globally by Conde Nast Traveller last year.