Dubai International Airport (DXB) handled a record 95.2 million passengers last year, up 3.1 per cent annually, as home airline Emirates continued to expand and the city attracted its highest number of international tourists.
The world's busiest airport by international traffic previously forecast traffic volumes of 95.3 million passengers by the end of 2025. DXB's traffic is expected to reach 99.5 million in 2026, state-owned operator Dubai Airports said on Wednesday.
The airport is the "lifeblood of Dubai ... Proud of its services ... proud of its team", Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said in a post on X.
DXB said it achieved its "busiest day, month, quarter and year on record, operating at the edge of physical capacity". "What would represent extraordinary strain elsewhere has become part of DXB's normal operating rhythm."
December was the busiest month in the airport's history, with 8.7 million passengers travelling during the UAE's winter season. That was up 6.1 per cent on the same month in 2024.
The fourth quarter was also its busiest on record, with 25.1 million passengers, up 5.9 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.
"In 2025, DXB showed that record traffic is no longer an exception, but part of its operating reality," said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports. "That consistency at scale reflects the maturity of the system."
Dubai attracted 19.59 million international overnight visitors last year, an increase of 5 per cent from 2024, the latest data from the emirate's Department of Economy and Tourism shows. In December, Dubai hosted more than two million visitors, the first time it has reached that figure in one calendar month.
Meanwhile, the expansion of Emirates, the world's biggest long-haul airline, continued to drive growth at the airport. Travel demand to and from Dubai and across the airline's international network remains strong, Adel Al Redha, Emirates' deputy president and chief operations officer, said last month.
Emirates airline needs to hire 20,000 "operational staff", from pilots to engineers, over the next five years, coinciding with an aggressive jet delivery schedule and high travel demand across the network, he added.
The recruitment drive is being fuelled by a brisk pace of Airbus A350-900 wide-body aircraft deliveries, the introduction of new destinations and the addition of flight frequencies on existing routes. However, DXB is reaching the limits of its capacity as travel demand grows and physical infrastructure is bursting at the seams.
To tackle future growth, Dubai is building a new $35 billion airport terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport. The first phase of the project is expected to be finished by 2032 and will be able to handle 150 million passengers a year. Once fully completed, the airport is set to reach a capacity of 260 million annual passengers.
Key source markets
By the end of 2025, DXB was connected to 291 destinations across 110 countries, served by 108 international airlines.
India remained DXB’s largest country market with 11.9 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia at 7.5 million, the UK at 6.3 million, Pakistan at 4.3 million and the US at 3.3 million, Dubai Airports said.
Several markets recorded strong growth during the year. Traffic from China increased 16.6 per cent to 2.5 million, Russia grew 6 per cent to 2.8 million, Turkey rose 6.7 per cent to 2.2 million, Egypt expanded 14.3 per cent to 1.8 million, and Italy climbed 12.5 per cent to 1.6 million.
London remained DXB’s busiest city destination with 3.9 million passengers, followed by Riyadh at three million, Mumbai and Jeddah at 2.4 million each, and New Delhi at 2.2 million.
