Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths says DXB is on track to welcome around 70 million passengers in 2026, with monthly traffic climbing sharply through the summer months.
Speaking at an International Media Briefing session hosted by the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO), Griffiths said DXB welcomed 31.5 million guests in the first half of 2026. Monthly passenger traffic reached 5 million in June and jumped to 6.3 million in July, a 26% increase in a single month.
Griffiths described the pace of the recovery as a "trampoline bounce," noting that current airline capacity at DXB has climbed to 84% of previous levels, while passenger volumes have reached 78%.
What the growth means for DXB
With traffic rebuilding this quickly, DXB is expected to reach 100 million annual passengers by the end of 2027. That figure sits close to the airport's maximum capacity of around 115 million passengers, underscoring why Dubai's aviation future increasingly points toward Al Maktoum International Airport.
Al Maktoum International's next phase
Griffiths confirmed that development of Al Maktoum International Airport remains on track, with its first major phase coming on stream in the early 2030s. That first phase alone will provide capacity for 150 million passengers annually, before the airport eventually scales up to accommodate as many as 260 million passengers a year.
