Dubai Worldwide Airport recorded its busiest 12 months ever in 2025 with 95.2 million passengers, overtaking each different airport on this planet for worldwide site visitors and averaging round 260,000 travellers a day.
But, inside hours of the primary strikes, UAE airspace was partially closed and all flights at DXB and Al Maktoum worldwide airports had been suspended “till additional discover”, one of the sweeping aviation pauses for the reason that 2020 pandemic.
Monday (Mar 16) noticed one other pause to operations at Dubai Worldwide when a gas tanker was struck by a drone because the warfare on Iran entered its third week.
The affect this has had on the tourism sector is obvious.
Knowledge from the Dubai Division of Economic system and Tourism confirmed the town’s motels coming into 2026 from a place of energy.
Nonetheless, in latest days, reserving websites revealed one thing nearly unprecedented within the UAE: final‑minute availability and large reductions.
Reviews advised greater than 80,000 bookings in Dubai had been cancelled alone within the first week of the battle, as guests both scrambled to get dwelling or just determined to postpone their journeys.
Nonetheless, the cities weren’t abandoned. Lots of these stranded by flight suspensions had prolonged their stays, or managed to guide industrial flights dwelling.
In Abu Dhabi, the Division of Tradition and Tourism instructed motels to let visitors keep till they will depart, with the federal government protecting the price of lodging for these unable to go away due to airline cancellations.
In the meantime, Dubai’s Division of Economic system and Tourism informed lodge operators to not evict visitors who can not journey and to alert authorities if guests couldn’t afford extensions in order that assist might be organized.
Tim Cordon, Chief Working Officer for the area at Radisson Lodge Group stated: “The protection and well-being of our visitors and crew members stays our absolute precedence. At our core, we’re within the enterprise of taking care of individuals. Throughout this time, our focus has been on responding with empathy, flexibility, and care, making certain visitors really feel supported at each step.”
On the tourism sector, he additionally stated: “The Center East is a resilient market, and we proceed to imagine strongly in its long-term energy. Whereas we anticipate a higher short-term give attention to home journey to offset any momentary decline in worldwide arrivals, we see this as a possibility to additional showcase the richness and variety of the area to native travellers.”
This sentiment was echoed throughout different lodge chains within the metropolis.
Authorities officers stated at a briefing simply final week that defending and offering for guests to the UAE was the precedence.
March is often peak time right here for seashore golf equipment and brunches, as individuals look to flee late winter for desert blue skies. Nonetheless, this 12 months, some visitors usually tend to be watching information alerts, than having fun with the colourful sunsets Dubai, Abu Dhabi and different cities within the UAE have to supply.
