Dubai airport expects 70 million passengers in 2026 after travel disruption

Dubai Airports expects Dubai International Airport (DXB) to handle about 70 million passengers in 2026, well below its earlier forecast of nearly 100 million, its chief executive has told Reuters.

Paul Griffiths said the original target could now be reached by the end of 2027 after the US-Iran war and resulting Gulf airspace closures disrupted travel for almost two months.

DXB handled 18.6 million passengers in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 23.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Griffiths said airport capacity had since recovered to 84% of pre-war levels, while passenger numbers had recovered to 78%.

“The transfer market and the point-to-point market are incredibly healthy, and I think they will continue to be healthy,” he said.

Griffiths said advances in smaller, longer-range aircraft could support further growth by allowing airlines to operate direct services to more destinations. He expects the number of cities served directly from Dubai to rise from 240 currently to more by mid-2027.

India, Saudi Arabia and Britain remain the airport’s largest passenger markets, with the overall passenger mix largely unchanged from before the war.

“There will be things that we will reinforce, and we might make design changes in the new airport to make it more resilient as a result of the Iran war,” Griffiths said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev