Dubai Airports Plans For Winter Travel Surge With Expanded Connectivity

Ella Nethersole December 17, 2025

sunset at DXB — Credit: Dubai Airports Company

Dubai Airports is entering the winter travel season with a strong push to expand services and add airlines at both Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International (DWC).

Direct traffic now accounts for 55% of DXB’s winter passenger demand, with Europe and Central Asia driving much of the growth.

FlyArystan launched twice-weekly services from Aktau on Nov. 29, while Austrian Airlines resumed five weekly flights from Vienna on Dec. 2.

Capacity from Europe is also increasing, with Virgin Atlantic upgrading its Dubai route to the Airbus A350-1000 and British Airways restoring A380 services from London Heathrow.

Seasonal demand from South Asia and the Middle East is also lifting connectivity. Varesh Airline began twice-weekly flights from Sari on Oct. 30, and Fly Jinnah added twice-weekly services from Lahore on Nov. 2.

Saudi Arabia remains a key growth market. Already DXB’s second-largest market, Saudi Arabia accounted for 7.8% of passengers year-to-date, with combined traffic across DXB and DWC reaching 6.3 million passengers, up 1.3% year-on-year. Traffic at DWC surged 459% to 173,000 passengers.

While DXB remains Dubai’s primary hub, DWC is playing a greater role as airlines tap into its available capacity to complement DXB services.

DWC handled 1.1 million passengers in the first 10 months of the year, up 36.6% year-on-year, supported by demand from CIS, GCC and Western European markets. Cargo volumes and aircraft movements also continued to rise.

German carrier Eurowings is contributing to DWC’s winter growth, launching daily services from Stuttgart to DXB and operating 3X flights from Düsseldorf to DWC.

Robert Whitehouse, vice president of research at Dubai Airports, said expanding connectivity across both airports is making the network more resilient.

“The growth in direct traffic reflects a balanced mix of inbound visitors, outbound travel from residents and people choosing to make Dubai their home,” he said.