Dubai, UAE – Dubai International Airport recorded, during the current January, about 5.5 million scheduled seats on international flights (11 million seats in both directions).
Thus, it leads the world’s airports, continuing to set new record levels.
The data showed that Dubai International remained the world’s busiest airport in January 2026.
This is a 4% increase in seat capacity, compared to the same month last year.
Dubai International Airport continues to achieve strong gains compared to last year’s levels.
Seat capacity at the airport has been steadily increasing, reaching a record high at the height of last summer.
It also hit a record high in December 2025.
This increase in seat capacity at Dubai International Airport comes as airlines continuously increase their operational operations, coinciding with peak demand at the beginning of the new year.
After recording a strong performance in international traffic over the first nine months of 2025.
In the overall index (international and domestic flights), Dubai International Airport tops the list of airports in the world.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport came in second place, with 4.9 million seats.
It was followed by Tokyo Haneda Airport, which recorded 4.6 million seats, and Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in fourth place, with about 4.4 million seats.
Dubai International increased the gap with its American counterpart, Hartsfield Atlanta, which came second, to 580,000 seats, or more than 1.1 million in both directions.
Dubai International also received 24.2 million passengers between July and September, a growth of 1.9% compared to last year.
Thus, the airport continued to break quarterly passenger traffic records in its 65-year history during the third quarter of 2025.
