Emirates Airline has awarded a AED19bn ($5bn) contract to build one of the world's largest engineering complexes in Dubai South.

The contract was awarded to Beijing-headquartered China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC).

CRCC is being supported by French firm Artelia, as the project consultant.

The complex will cover over 1 million square metres (sq m).

It will comprise 77,000 sq m of dedicated workshop space for maintenance and repairs, 380,000 sq m of storage and logistics capacity, a 50,000 sq m administrative building for Emirates Engineering and 15,000 sq m of training facilities.

It will be the world's only complex with a capacity to service 28 wide-body aircraft simultaneously.

The airline officially broke ground on the project on 18 May.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates Group; Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline; Khalifa Al-Zaffin, executive chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai South; and Dai Hegen, chairman of CRCC.

The facility will enable large-scale retrofits, cabin redesigns and structural modifications to be performed in-house, thereby reducing turnaround times.

The engineering complex is scheduled for completion in 2030 and will be located at Al-Maktoum International airport.