With record crowds descending on the UAE for tonight’s fireworks, the country’s two busiest low-cost gateways—Dubai International (DXB) and Sharjah International (SHJ)—have sounded the alarm for travellers and mobility teams alike. Airport officials expect more than 385,000 passengers to stream through DXB between the afternoon of 31 December and the early hours of 1 January, while SHJ forecasts load factors above 95 percent on Air Arabia and other carriers.
Both airports are urging travellers to arrive early—four hours before departure at DXB and three at SHJ—and, where possible, to ditch the car. Metro trains will run around the clock to Terminal 3, and RTA buses are being marshalled to shuttle passengers across the city as rolling road closures funnel traffic away from the Burj Khalifa fireworks zone. Remote check-in counters in DIFC, Ajman and selected malls allow passengers to drop bags up to 48 hours in advance, earning Emirates flyers 2,500 bonus Skywards miles in the process.
For international visitors who still need to finalise their paperwork, VisaHQ offers a fast, digital route to securing a UAE visa, complete with live application tracking and on-call support—useful perks when holiday crowds are this intense. Travellers can explore options or begin an application at https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/ well before they leave for the airport.
![Dubai & Sharjah airports issue New Year’s Eve travel alert as passenger volumes surge]()
Behind the scenes, immigration authorities have opened extra smart-gate lanes and rostered additional officers at manual counters to keep queues moving. Mobility coordinators overseeing group moves or rotational crews over the holiday week are being advised to pad layovers, book early check-in slots and warn travellers that downtown roadblocks could add an hour to the journey between hotel and terminal.
Cargo operators are also on notice: DXB’s freight village expects peak truck congestion in the hours before midnight as last-minute e-commerce shipments jostle with party-goers for gate access. Forwarders with time-critical consignments have been told to re-schedule drop-offs to the small-hours window after 02:00.
Although the advisory focuses on New Year’s Eve, airport executives say elevated traffic will spill into the first week of January as visitors stay on for the Dubai Shopping Festival and Gulf Cup football fixtures. The message from authorities is clear: plan ahead, arrive early, travel light and use every possible digital shortcut to keep people—and products—moving.
Both airports are urging travellers to arrive early—four hours before departure at DXB and three at SHJ—and, where possible, to ditch the car. Metro trains will run around the clock to Terminal 3, and RTA buses are being marshalled to shuttle passengers across the city as rolling road closures funnel traffic away from the Burj Khalifa fireworks zone. Remote check-in counters in DIFC, Ajman and selected malls allow passengers to drop bags up to 48 hours in advance, earning Emirates flyers 2,500 bonus Skywards miles in the process.
For international visitors who still need to finalise their paperwork, VisaHQ offers a fast, digital route to securing a UAE visa, complete with live application tracking and on-call support—useful perks when holiday crowds are this intense. Travellers can explore options or begin an application at https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/ well before they leave for the airport.
Behind the scenes, immigration authorities have opened extra smart-gate lanes and rostered additional officers at manual counters to keep queues moving. Mobility coordinators overseeing group moves or rotational crews over the holiday week are being advised to pad layovers, book early check-in slots and warn travellers that downtown roadblocks could add an hour to the journey between hotel and terminal.
Cargo operators are also on notice: DXB’s freight village expects peak truck congestion in the hours before midnight as last-minute e-commerce shipments jostle with party-goers for gate access. Forwarders with time-critical consignments have been told to re-schedule drop-offs to the small-hours window after 02:00.
Although the advisory focuses on New Year’s Eve, airport executives say elevated traffic will spill into the first week of January as visitors stay on for the Dubai Shopping Festival and Gulf Cup football fixtures. The message from authorities is clear: plan ahead, arrive early, travel light and use every possible digital shortcut to keep people—and products—moving.
