Pakistan becomes Dubai airport fourth-largest market with 3.2m passengers

• Total January–September traffic reaches 70.1 million at DXB.
• India, Saudi Arabia, UK remain Dubai airport’s top three markets.
• 99.6% of departures clear passport control within 10 minutes.

DUBAI: Dubai International Airport (DXB) handled 3.2 million passengers from Pakistan in the first nine months of 2025, making Pakistan the airport’s fourth-largest market, Dubai Airports said on Wednesday.

Dubai Airports noted that millions of Pakistanis continue to use DXB for tourism, business travel, family visits, job opportunities, and transit to Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Pakistan remains one of the UAE’s most important tourism and labour-mobility partners, with steady travel demand throughout the year.

Dubai airport recorded the highest quarterly traffic in its 65-year history, welcoming 24.2 million passengers between July and September — a 1.9% increase year-on-year.

Total traffic from January to September reached 70.1 million, up 2.1% from last year. While Dubai Airports said its 12-month rolling traffic hit 93.8 million passengers by the end of September, the highest ever.

India remained DXB’s top market with 8.8 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (5.5 million) and the UK (4.6 million).

Pakistan ranked fourth, ahead of the United States.

Dubai Airports said operational performance remained strong, with nearly all passengers clearing border and security checks within minutes.

Dubai Airports said 99.6% of departing passengers cleared passport control within 10 minutes, while 99.8% of arrivals waited less than 15 minutes.

Aircraft movements stayed strong, with 115,000 flights in the 3rd quarter and 336,000 flights in the first 9 months.

Dubai is also upgrading facilities at Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 to handle rising demand, especially from South Asian travellers, who form a key part of Dubai’s visitor base.