Overview
- Dubai Airports reported on Wednesday that first‑half passenger traffic fell 31.3% to 31.5 million, with 13 million passengers in the April–June quarter.
- Aircraft movements dropped about 32.1% to 150,600 in H1, while cargo fell roughly 28.7% to 751,340 tonnes and bags processed declined about 28% to 30.3 million.
- The operator and multiple news outlets said the fall followed the US‑Iran war that began on February 28, which triggered regional airspace restrictions, several temporary DXB closures and nearby drone and missile incidents.
- Dubai Airports highlighted operational resilience: it made no staff redundancies, completed rapid repairs after damage from intercepted drones, and recorded month‑on‑month passenger rises in Q2 (3.5m in April, 4.5m in May, 5m in June).
- The authority revised its 2026 traffic projection to about 70 million and says it expects stronger second‑half recovery as airlines restore routes and the winter schedule starts, but cautioned that travel advisories, insurance limits and higher fuel costs remain headwinds.