The UAE's airports are forecast to collectively handle 155 million passengers in 2025, as the country seeks to attract more international travellers, investments and global events.
That is up nearly 5 per cent from last year when the UAE's air passenger traffic reached 147.8 million, Saif Al Suwaidi director general General Civil Aviation Authority, told The National on Thursday.
UAE airports handled about 102.9 million passengers in the first eight months of 2025, up 5.3 per cent on the same period in 2024.
Aviation and tourism are key pillars of the UAE's economy. The tourism sector's contribution to the UAE’s gross domestic product rose 3.2 per cent on an annual basis to Dh257.3 billion ($70 billion) in 2024, representing 13 per cent of the national economy, state-owned news agency Wam reported in September, citing Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq.
Key source markets for international tourists included India (14 per cent), the UK (8 per cent), Russia (8 per cent), China (5 per cent), and Saudi Arabia (5 per cent), with 60 per cent arriving from other regions worldwide.
Tourism investments attracted by the UAE reached Dh32.2 billion in 2024, with the amount projected to reach Dh35.2 billion this year, Wam said.
Rail connectivity
While the UAE has modern road infrastructure, the addition of a national railway network will also boost connectivity to the country's airports.
“The railways will provide more facilities for the passengers to select any airport within the UAE and maybe from the Gulf itself,” Mr Al Suwaidi said.
“When construction at DWC is finished, at that time, the railway will be connected,” he said referring to the new terminal being built at the Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai scheduled to be completed by 2032.
A high-speed passenger rail service between Abu Dhabi and Dubai is in the works, separate to the main Etihad Rail network.
The new line from Etihad Rail – first announced in January – would cut the journey time between the two emirates to 30 minutes.
Trains will run at up to 350kph on a route that will pass through key destinations and tourist attractions.
The new high-speed electrified line will feature six stations at Reem Island, Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, Zayed International Airport, close to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai and Jaddaf, near Dubai Creek, Etihad Rail said.
Separately, Abu Dhabi Airports said on Thursday that it signed an initial pact with Abu Dhabi Transport to boost its connections with the emirate’s public transport systems.
The agreement will aim to develop connections between Abu Dhabi’s five commercial airports and the wider network of trains, buses and future mobility modes, it said.
The agreement “enables us to explore and deploy the most suitable mobility solutions − from light rail and bus rapid transit to automated shuttles and Personal Rapid Transit systems − to connect Abu Dhabi’s airports with the city network and to streamline travel within airport campuses”, Saeed Salem AlSuwaidi, chief executive of ADT, said.
