Dubai airport traffic down 66% but authorities confident about a quick recovery

Since the situation began on 28 February and intensified through March, Dubai’s airports remained operational despite constraints, supporting the safe movement of 6 million guests, over 32,000 aircraft movements, and 213,000 tonnes of essential cargo as of April 30.

Operations at DXB were maintained under continuously changing conditions, with schedules, passenger flows and ground handling aligned to available airspace. Coordinated decision-making across the airport ecosystem enabled the airport to sustain safe and consistent service continuity, despite severe constraints.

The Gulf war had however a strong impact on the airport’s activity. DXB welcomed 18.6 million guests in the first quarter of 2026, down 20.6% year on year, reflecting the regional airspace disruptions that intensified through March. Passenger traffic in March stood at 2.5 million, down 65.7% year on year.

India was DXB’s largest country market again with 2.5 million guests, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at 1.3 million, the United Kingdom at 1.2 million, and Pakistan at 918,000. London remained DXB’s busiest city destination with 752,000 guests, followed by Mumbai at 520,000, and Jeddah at 505,000 guests.

Recovery on the way
Following the lifting of all precautionary restrictions on UAE airspace, Dubai Airports has now entered the next phase of recovery operations, ramping up daily fight movements and enabling airlines to progressively restore schedules. Capacity is now primarily aligned to the availability of regional flight paths outside of the UAE, with ongoing coordination to optimize flows across neighbouring airspace.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “The extraordinary events of the past few weeks are unprecedented for any major airport hub such as DXB. International transfer traffic through the Middle East region accounts for a major share of the global air travel market, with 22.4 million annual passenger journeys flowing through DXB, representing one third of the transfer traffic across the region’s hubs. Maintaining the smooth operation of DXB is therefore critical to keep global journeys moving. Our focus has been on keeping operations safe and consistent for our customers through close coordination and rapid decision-making across the entire airport community and beyond, while ensuring the system remains ready to respond swiftly as conditions improve.

“Our collective response to these challenges has sharpened our ability to adapt at pace. That readiness will enable us to accommodate returning demand as capacity is restored, reinforcing DXB’s role as a leading global hub, even as some regional routing constraints remain.”

Dubai’s role as a global hub is indeed closely linked to the international transfer market. Of the 99.3 million transferring passengers whose journeys could route through the Middle East, the region captures around 70%, with DXB handling 32% of that traffic. As conditions stabilize, this segment is expected to recover quickly, supported by demand that cannot be readily absorbed elsewhere.

Looking ahead, Dubai Airports’ outlook for the year remains underpinned by strong underlying demand. As airspace capacity continues to improve, DXB is actively increasing flight movements and working with airline and airspace partners to unlock additional capacity across the network. The airport is well positioned to accommodate further growth in the months ahead.