Dubai International Airport handled approximately 5.5 million scheduled seats on international flights (11 million in both directions) in January 2026, leading the world's airports and setting new records. This is reported in the latest report by the international company 'OAG', a provider of airport and airline data. According to data obtained by 'Emirates Today', Dubai International remained the world's busiest airport in January 2026, increasing seat capacity by 4% compared to the same month last year. Dubai International Airport continues to show strong growth compared to last year's levels, with seat capacity at the airport continuously increasing, reaching a record level during last summer's peak and a record level in the past December. This increase in seat capacity at Dubai International Airport comes as airlines continuously expand their operations, coinciding with peak demand at the start of the new year, after strong performance in international traffic was recorded over the first nine months of 2025. In the overall indicator (international and domestic flights), Dubai International topped the list of the world's airports, with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International in the United States in second place with 4.9 million seats, followed by Tokyo Haneda with 4.6 million seats, Guangzhou Baiyun in fourth place with approximately 4.4 million seats, and Hong Kong in fifth place with approximately 4.3 million seats. Dubai International increased its lead over its American counterpart, Hartsfield Atlanta, which came in second, by 580,000 seats, or more than 1.1 million in both directions. In the indicator for international flights only, Dubai International also ranked first, followed by London Heathrow with about four million seats, Seoul Incheon in third with about 3.88 million seats, Singapore with about 3.7 million seats, and Istanbul in fifth with about 3.4 million seats. According to the latest data released by Dubai Airports, Dubai International Airport continued to break its own records for quarterly passenger traffic in its 65-year history during the third quarter of 2025, receiving 24.2 million passengers between July and September, a growth of 1.9% compared to the previous year. The data showed that Dubai International ranked first in the world for total seat capacity on combined international and domestic flights, where it will handle 5.5 million seats for outbound flights (11 million scheduled seats) in January this year, a 4% year-on-year increase in airline capacity compared to January 2025. Dubai International topped the list of the busiest airports in terms of total international and domestic flights in the region, surpassing Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International to become the world's largest airport by available seats, according to data from the specialized aviation data platform OAG.
