Dubai International Airport handled 31.5 million passengers in the first half of 2026, down 31.3% from a year earlier, as regional airspace constraints and wider disruption linked to the Iran war hit Gulf aviation. Dubai Airports released the figures on Wednesday and described the period as one of the most challenging operating environments in the airport’s history.
Traffic improved through the second quarter, with DXB welcoming 13 million passengers between April and June. Monthly volumes rose from 3.5 million in April to 4.5 million in May and 5 million in June, pointing to a gradual recovery as airlines restored capacity. Aircraft movements also declined sharply in the period, falling 32.1% year on year to 150,600 in the first half.
DXB remains the world’s busiest international airport by traffic, making the first-half decline a closely watched indicator of the impact of conflict-related disruption on the region’s aviation network. The airport had already been affected earlier in the year, when regional airspace restrictions reduced traffic across major Gulf hubs.