The UAE’s Dubai International Airport (DXB) is one of the Middle East’s key transit hubs, and hometown carriers Emirates and flydubai have huge presences there. Indeed, data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that these two airlines account for 138,823 of the facility’s 209,717 scheduled departures this year (66.2%). But which non-UAE carriers have the biggest presence in Dubai?
Indian airlines rule the roost
Sitting at the top of the pile, we have Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo, which is one of just two non-UAE operators to have more than 5,000 departures from Dubai International Airport this year. Its total figure is 5,490 (15 a day), with these flights offering 1,024,952 seats and 1,486,106,770 available seat miles (ASMs). Mumbai (BOM) is comfortably the most popular route, accounting for 1,464 of these flights.
Air India and its low-cost arm, Air India Express, also rank highly, with 3,764 and 4,216 scheduled flights from Dubai International Airport in 2024. Delhi (DEL) is the primary route for Air India’s mainline flights from Dubai International (1,673 departures), whereas Mangalore (IXE) comes out on top for its low-cost arm (731).
Photo: Philip Lange | Shutterstock
Numerically sandwiched between Air India and Air India Express, we have fellow Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet, which has 3,920 scheduled departures from Dubai International Airport in 2024. These offer 736,841 seats and 1,022,670,412 ASMs, with Delhi and Mumbai each accounting for 732 of these (two per day).
Other Asian big hitters
Given the UAE’s Middle Eastern location, it is unsurprising to see its rankings dominated by carriers from the region and elsewhere in Asia. Indeed, Saudia Arabian flag carrier Saudia ranks second overall with 5,264 flights in 2024 and is the only other carrier above the 5,000 mark. Jeddah (2,501) and Riyadh (2,704) account for the vast majority of these, but Medina will also see 59 rotations.
Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, private low-cost carrier Flynas is the last airline with more than 3,000 scheduled departures from Dubai International Airport this year, with its overall total coming to 3,141. These flights offer 538,967 seats and 378,976,339 ASMs, with Riyadh (1,762 flights) being the most popular route.
The World’s Busiest Airbus A380 Route: London Heathrow To Dubai International
Two carriers deploy the superjumbo on this busy corridor.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Two more Asian carriers have over 2,000 scheduled departures from Dubai International Airport in 2024: Pakistan International Airlines (2,486) and Gulf Air (2,471). While the seats offered on these are relatively close (421,363 and 415,743, respectively), the proximity of Gulf Air’s homeland in Bahrain to the UAE means that its ASMs are only around a third of those offered by PIA.
Further afield
Looking further down the rankings, we can see that certain carriers that fly from European destinations also exceed the 1,000-flight mark. These include Turkish Airlines, with 1,663 flights offering 500,720 seats, and 938,284,673 ASMs mainly serving Istanbul Airport (IST). Meanwhile, British Airways has 1,029 flights offering 259,652 seats and 888,009,840 ASMs to London Heathrow (LHR).
What do you make of Dubai’s largest non-UAE airlines this year? Have you ever used the airport? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
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Dubai International Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- DXB/OMDB
- Country:
- United Arab Emirates
- CEO:
- Paul Griffiths
- Passenger Count :
- 29,100,000 (2021)
- Runways :
- 12L/30R – 4,000m (13,123ft) |12R/30L – 4,450m (14,560ft)
- Terminals:
- Terminal 1 |Terminal 2 |Terminal 3
