The UAE has registered an air fleet of 960 aircraft, including 520 operated by Emirati airlines, operating more than 4,800 weekly flights around the world, according to the latest report by the General Civil Aviation Authority in its series “A Closer Look: Civil Aviation in the UAE.”
The UAE's civil aviation system includes 12 certified airports, 8 of them international, 100 heliports and 35 Emirati airlines, covering all entities licensed to operate flights, according to a statement published on the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority's LinkedIn account.
These include major Emirati carriers as well as private, cargo and air ambulance operators, in addition to 383 foreign airlines. The country's airports are also connected to 304 airports in 109 countries, with 162 new international destinations launched over the past five years.
The report noted that Dubai International Airport has maintained its global lead in international passenger traffic for more than a decade, recording 5.34 million departing seats in August 2025, while the capacity of the country's airports exceeds 160 million passengers a year, with cumulative passenger traffic growth of 33.6% over the past decade.
The report said the civil aviation sector contributes more than $92 billion annually to the UAE economy, or about 18% of GDP, and supports more than 206,800 direct jobs and nearly one million jobs in supply chains, tourism and support services, in addition to transporting 4.36 million tons of cargo annually, placing the UAE seventh globally in the air cargo market.
To view the post on the General Civil Aviation Authority's LinkedIn account, click here.
