Dubai International Airport (DXB), one of the world’s busiest hubs, saw passenger numbers plunge by more than half in March due to flight restrictions related to the Iran-US war. The airport, which held the status of the second busiest globally in 2025 with 95.2 million passengers annually, reported only 2.5 million travellers in March, a 65.7 per cent drop year on year.
Flights were temporarily suspended in March following a fire near the airport after a “drone-related incident”. Overall, DXB recorded 18.6 million passengers in the first quarter, down 20.6 per cent compared to the same period last year.
India remained the largest country market in the first quarter with 2.5 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (1.3 million), the United Kingdom (1.2 million), and Pakistan (918,000). London was the busiest city destination with 752,000 passengers, ahead of Mumbai (520,000) and Jeddah (505,000).
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. Our focus has been on keeping operations safe and consistent through close coordination and rapid decision-making.” The airport said it had supported six million passengers, more than 32,000 aircraft and 213 tonnes of cargo since 28 February.
Following the UAE lifting airspace restrictions, Dubai Airports plans a recovery phase by increasing daily flights and enabling airlines to restore schedules as much as neighbouring airspaces allow. “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,” Mr Griffiths added.
