Dubai International Airport is known for welcoming millions of travellers every month. And it has once again surpassed its previous records. Rewriting its global aviation record books, the airport welcomed 95.2 million travellers in 2025! Yes, as revealed by the airport, this is the highest annual international passenger traffic that has ever been recorded by any airport. Announce on the morning of Wednesday, February 11th, here’s all you need to know about this development.
DXB Named The Busiest Airport In The World Again
DXB saw an uptick in the percentage of travellers as compared to the previous year. Making it the world’s busiest international hub, it is no longer about recovery or rebound. Yes, it seems this has become a routine for the airport to continuously break its own record! However, what makes 2025 more special is the fact that it’s been a year of consistency. Not just a peak, but it has been a year full of them! DXB logged its busiest day, quarter, month, and full year on record!
A Year-On-Year Increase In Travellers
As it happens, December became the busiest month in the history of the airport, which saw 8.7 million passengers, which was an up from 6.1% on a year-on-year basis. As mentioned in a report of the Gulf News, the October to December period was also the strongest quarter ever for the airport. It reached 25.1 million, which was a rise of 5.9%. Aircraft activity also rose at the airport, which saw flight movements 1,18,000 in the fourth quarter, taking the annual total to 4,54,800.
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86.75 Million Bags Processed
Even though there were more flights, aircraft were fuller, with there being an average of two to four passengers per movement. Moreover, the yearly load factor also stood at 77.6%. As it happens, the airport has also raised its 2026 forecast to 99.5 million passengers. As can be noted from the figures, it’s just 500,000 shy of the 100 million mark.
The airport also mentioned how it processed 86.75 million bags during the year. This was 5% more than in 2024, and almost 9 in 10 arriving bags reached passengers in just 45 minutes. The passport control and security time also remains tight with the departing travellers, clearing passports, and checking in under 10 minutes. Arriving passengers had to just wait for 15 minutes, and the security queue stayed under five minutes for most of the flyers.
This time, India has once again ranked as the largest country market for DXB with 11.9 million travellers. It was followed by Saudi Arabia with 7.5 million, the UK with 6.3 million, Pakistan with 4.3 million, and the United States with 3.3 million passengers.
Cover Image Courtesy: DXB Airport/X
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