Dubai flights and searches during the 2026 airspace closure

When was UAE airspace closed?

The GCAA announced a temporary and partial closure of UAE airspace on 28 February 2026.¹ On 2 May 2026 it said normal operations had fully resumed.² Safe Airspace lists closures and reopenings from February to July 2026.³ None of these reports dates a closure after 2 May.

If your trip was disrupted, read what travel policies say about war and airspace closures before you claim.

How far did Dubai airport traffic fall?

DXB handled 31.5 million guests in the first half of 2026, down 31.3% on the same period of 2025. Aircraft movements fell 32.1% to 150,600.⁴ In the first quarter it handled 18.6 million guests, down 20.6%, and 88,000 movements, down 20.8%.⁵ The second quarter held 13 million guests and 62,500 movements.⁴

DXB flew to 291 destinations in 110 countries at the end of 2025⁶ and 217 destinations in 99 countries at the end of June 2026.⁴

Traffic rose again each month from April

DXB handled 3.5 million guests in April 2026, 4.5 million in May and 5 million in June.⁴

In February 2026 Dubai Airports expected traffic to approach 99.5 million for the year.⁶ On 10 September 2026 Reuters reported that it expected around 70 million by the end of the year.⁷

What did people in the UAE search for?

Searches for “flight cancelled” in the UAE hit their 12-month high in the first week of March 2026. They reached 100 on Google’s relative index in 1 to 7 March, then 64 and 48 in the next two weeks, against a 12-month average of 12.⁸

“schengen visa” fell from 42 in the last week of February to 26 in the first week of March, and read 49 by 3 to 9 May.⁸ Google Ads estimates 1,900 searches for “schengen visa dubai” in March 2026, against 3,600 in January.⁹

“travel insurance” read 76 in 1 to 7 March and 74 the week before, against a 12-month average of 55. Its peak was 84 in 14 to 20 June and its low 23 in 27 September to 3 October.⁸

Google Ads estimates 110 searches for “trip cancellation insurance” in March 2026, against 20 to 40 in most months, and 390 for “travel insurance credit card”. “emirates travel insurance” reached 2,400 in June 2026, against 140 to 480 in other months.⁹

If you hold cover through a credit card, read what card travel cover includes before you rely on it for a cancelled trip.

The small print

• Dubai Airports reported 18.6 million guests and 88,000 movements for the first quarter. Taking the second quarter from the first-half totals gives 18.5 million and 88,100, so the two releases differ slightly.⁵⁴
• Reports differ on whether UAE airspace was open on 17 March 2026. The dated timeline is on the war and airspace page.
• The GCAA dates come from Arabian Business, which carries the GCAA text, and AeroTime, which quotes the 2 May statement.¹²
• Searches and traffic moved in the same weeks. The figures do not show why anyone searched, and they do not show how many people claimed on a policy.
• Google Trends values are relative within one group of search terms, so they cannot be compared from one chart to another. Google Ads figures are third-party estimates of searches made inside the UAE.⁸⁹