DUBAI: Dubai International Airport (DXB), the world’s busiest travel hub, is expected to handle close to 100 million passengers this year, its operator said on Wednesday, building on a record performance in 2025.
Dubai Airports forecasts 99.5 million passengers in 2026, it said in a statement, as demand strengthens across several major markets.
DXB handled 95.2 million passengers last year, up 3.1 percent from 2024. India, Saudi Arabia and Britain remained among its largest markets, while China, Egypt and Italy recorded double-digit growth.
“We’ve had some pretty good growing markets … and those, I think, are the markets where there’s going to be considerable potential,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said in an interview, mentioning countries including China and Russia.
“We’re adding more routes to Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that Riyadh Air, which is owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and commenced operations last year, will start operating a route to and from DXB “over the next few months.”
