Dubai airport handled record 46 million passengers in first half despite geopolitical disruptions

The National

5 days ago

Dubai International Airport (DXB) handled a record number of passengers in the first half of 2025, despite geopolitical challenges that led to closure of airspace and disrupted aviation operations in the region.
Passenger traffic at DXB, the world's busiest international aviation hub, served 46 million flyers across 222,000 flights in the six months through to the end of June, an annual 2.3 per cent increase, its operator Dubai Airports said in a statement on Tuesday.
During the second quarter of 2025, passenger traffic grew 3.1 per cent year-on-year to 22.5 million. The aviation hub had handled 23.4 million during the first three months of this year.
January and April logged 8.5 million and eight million guests, respectively, which are records for both months, it said.
The average monthly passenger traffic during the January-June period at DXB – the home-base for Dubai's flagship airline Emirates as well as low-cost carrier flydubai – hit about 7.7 million, while the daily volume of passengers passing through hub averaged 254,000,
The region's aviation industry faced severe disruption in June as tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into an open war that forced closure of airspace in the several Middle Eastern countries and disrupted aviation operations across the region as airlines cancelled flights to ensure passenger and crew safety.
However, DXB's growth underpins "the strength of Dubai and the UAE, the agility of our operations and the commitment of our airport community", Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said in the statement.
It "once again enabled us to manage disruption while ... ensuring seamless global connectivity", he added.
Aviation remains a pillar of Dubai's economy – one of the fastest-growing trade, business and financial hub in the Middle East - with consistent flow of visitors feeding other sectors, including tourism and retail.
Dubai's aviation industry is forecast to account for 32 per cent of the emirate's economy and account for one in four jobs in 2030, higher than previous projections, according to a recent study by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Emirates airline and Dubai Airports.
The sector will contribute Dh196 billion ($53.36 billion) to Dubai's projected gross domestic product and support 816,000 jobs by the start of the next decade, based on industry financial and passenger projections, the report said.
DXB expects to hit the 100-million passengers mark by the end of 2026, earlier than the 2027 forecast. The hub is expected to handle 96 million travellers this year, up from a previous forecast of 94 million, Mr Griffiths told The National earlier this year.
With travel activity expected to accelerate in the second half of 2025 driven by the late-summer peak, event-filled winter season and the biennial Dubai Airshow, DXB is confident it will reach those targets, "based on our performance to date and a positive outlook", he said on Tuesday.
India remained DXB's biggest country market in the first half with 5.9 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (3.6 million), the UK (3 million), Pakistan (2.1 million) and the US (1.6 million). London was the busiest city destination with 1.8 million guests, followed by Riyadh, Mumbai, Jeddah, New Delhi and Istanbul.
DXB handled more than 1 million tonnes of cargo in the first six months of the year, a 0.1 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2024.