Dubai airport sees 66% passenger drop over Mideast war

Where Diplomacy Meets News

Dubai airport sees 66% passenger drop over Mideast war

May 4, 2026

DUBAI,— Dubai airport saw passenger traffic fall by two-thirds in March after Iran attacks on the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East war, the Dubai Government Media Office said Monday.

Traveler numbers at Dubai International Airport, normally the world’s busiest for international traffic, dropped to 2.5 million, a 66% decline from a year earlier, the statement said.

It said the airport faced a period of regional disruption that limited airspace capacity and flight schedules.

With air traffic in the UAE now fully restored, Dubai Airports is increasing operations and raising flight movements in line with available regional routing capacity.

Dubai International Airport was hit several times by drones as the UAE faced retaliation from Iran following US and Israeli strikes.

Quarterly passenger traffic fell 21% to 18.6 million in the first quarter of 2026. The airport handled a record 95.2 million passengers in 2025 and had expected 99.5 million in 2026.

Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths said in the statement that the extraordinary events of recent weeks were unprecedented for any major airport hub.

Dubai Airports said it is moving decisively to scale up operations as airspace disruption eases and flight movements increase in line with regional routing capacity the statement added on Monday in Dubai Media Office statement said report confirmed.

Despite the disruption, Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport handled more than six million passengers, over 32,000 aircraft movements and more than 213,000 metric tons of cargo, Griffiths said in a LinkedIn post.

Griffiths said demand for travel through Dubai remains strong and the airport is positioned to gradually increase capacity and support airlines and passengers.

Before the conflict and Gulf airspace closures disrupted traffic for nearly two months, the airport was expected to handle close to 100 million passengers this year, its operator said on February 11.

(With files from AFP, Reuters)