Dubai International Airport (DXB) has once again secured first place on OAG’s ranking of the world’s busiest international hubs, clocking 62.4 million outbound and inbound international seats in calendar-year 2025. The latest data, released on 18 January 2026, shows DXB widening the gap with London-Heathrow and Istanbul despite regional headwinds and temporary runway works. (khaleejtimes.com)
What matters for corporate mobility teams is capacity. OAG’s seat-count methodology reveals that DXB offered 16 per cent more international seats than it did pre-pandemic in 2019, buoyed by aggressive network expansion from Emirates, flydubai and a string of Asian and African carriers. More seats translate into greater fare competition, better scheduling options and shorter connection windows for assignees heading to Africa, South-East Asia, India and Europe. (khaleejtimes.com)
For corporate travel departments juggling multiple assignee itineraries, VisaHQ can relieve the administrative load. Its dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) enables travelers and HR teams to arrange Dubai entry permits, renew passports, and monitor application status in real time—ensuring documentation keeps pace with DXB’s growing seat supply.
![Dubai International Airport keeps crown as world’s busiest for international travellers]()
Operational resilience has improved in parallel with capacity. Airport operator Dubai Airports says biometric Smart Gates now process more than 70 per cent of arriving passengers, cutting average immigration time to under 13 seconds. A further 40 e-gates will come online before Eid, and a second batch of CT scanners is being installed at Terminal 3 to speed up security re-checks for transfer passengers. (khaleejtimes.com)
For mobility managers, the message is two-fold: expect easier seat availability during peak assignment change-over windows, but warn travellers that passenger volumes regularly top 300,000 per day. Advisories should recommend at least a 90-minute buffer between connecting flights and encourage staff to enrol in Smart Gate biometrics before travel. Companies with large expatriate populations in Dubai may also want to revisit housing allowances: rent inflation near DXB-linked transport corridors averaged 14 per cent in 2025.
Looking ahead, DXB CEO Paul Griffiths projects 96 million passengers in 2026 and a symbolic 100 million “early in 2027”. If that target is met, Dubai will not only dominate the international segment but challenge Atlanta’s long-standing all-traffic crown—reinforcing the emirate’s position at the centre of global mobility flows.
What matters for corporate mobility teams is capacity. OAG’s seat-count methodology reveals that DXB offered 16 per cent more international seats than it did pre-pandemic in 2019, buoyed by aggressive network expansion from Emirates, flydubai and a string of Asian and African carriers. More seats translate into greater fare competition, better scheduling options and shorter connection windows for assignees heading to Africa, South-East Asia, India and Europe. (khaleejtimes.com)
For corporate travel departments juggling multiple assignee itineraries, VisaHQ can relieve the administrative load. Its dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) enables travelers and HR teams to arrange Dubai entry permits, renew passports, and monitor application status in real time—ensuring documentation keeps pace with DXB’s growing seat supply.
Operational resilience has improved in parallel with capacity. Airport operator Dubai Airports says biometric Smart Gates now process more than 70 per cent of arriving passengers, cutting average immigration time to under 13 seconds. A further 40 e-gates will come online before Eid, and a second batch of CT scanners is being installed at Terminal 3 to speed up security re-checks for transfer passengers. (khaleejtimes.com)
For mobility managers, the message is two-fold: expect easier seat availability during peak assignment change-over windows, but warn travellers that passenger volumes regularly top 300,000 per day. Advisories should recommend at least a 90-minute buffer between connecting flights and encourage staff to enrol in Smart Gate biometrics before travel. Companies with large expatriate populations in Dubai may also want to revisit housing allowances: rent inflation near DXB-linked transport corridors averaged 14 per cent in 2025.
Looking ahead, DXB CEO Paul Griffiths projects 96 million passengers in 2026 and a symbolic 100 million “early in 2027”. If that target is met, Dubai will not only dominate the international segment but challenge Atlanta’s long-standing all-traffic crown—reinforcing the emirate’s position at the centre of global mobility flows.
