Dubai Airport Passenger Traffic Drops Two-Thirds After Iran Attack

Dubai. Passenger traffic at Dubai Airport has decreased by two-thirds in March following an attack by Iran in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the West Asia war. The United Arab Emirates' communication office provided this information in a statement on Monday.

Dubai's communication office stated that the number of passengers at Dubai International Airport, considered the world's busiest for international passenger traffic, has dropped to 2.5 million. Due to increased tension in the Middle East caused by the US-Iran war, the airport has faced regional disruptions, significantly hindering airspace capacity and flight schedules.

The Dubai communication office further stated, "The airspace within the UAE has now been fully restored, and Dubai's airports are decisively moving forward to increase flights with available regional route capacity."

In retaliation for the US-Israel attack, Iran targeted Dubai International multiple times in the oil-rich UAE. In the first quarter of 2026, quarterly traffic decreased by 21 percent to 18.6 million.

Dubai International served a record 95.2 million passengers last year. This number was expected to reach 99.5 million this year.

Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths said, "The extraordinary events of the past few weeks have proven to have unimaginable consequences for any major airport."