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Dubai Airports expects annual passenger traffic to reach 70 million by the end of 2026, down from an earlier target of 100 million, CEO Paul Griffiths told Reuters on Thursday, adding that the original goal could now be reached by the end of 2027.
The U.S.-Iran war and the resulting closures of Gulf airspace disrupted travel for nearly two months, derailing Dubai Airports' February forecast that Dubai International Airport (DXB) would handle close to 100 million passengers this year.
DXB, the world's busiest international travel hub, handled 18.6 million passengers in the first quarter of 2026, down from 23.4 million a year earlier. Griffiths said capacity had since recovered to 84% of pre-war levels and passenger numbers to 78%.
"The transfer market and the point-to-point market are incredibly healthy, and I think they will continue to be healthy," he said.
Griffiths said advances in smaller, longer-range aircraft could support further growth by enabling airlines to launch direct services to more destinations. He expects the number of cities served directly from Dubai to increase from the current 240 by mid-2027.
The airport's passenger mix has remained largely unchanged since before the war, with India, Saudi Arabia and Britain continuing to be its largest markets, he added.
"There will be things that we will reinforce, and we might make design changes in the new airport to make it more resilient as a result of the Iran war," Griffiths said.
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