Dubai, Sept. 10 (SANA)Dubai Airports expects passenger traffic to reach 70 million by the end of 2026, sharply below an earlier forecast of 100 million after nearly two months of travel disruption caused by the war between the United States and Iran and the closure of Gulf airspace.

Dubai Airports Chief Executive Paul Griffiths told Reuters on Thursday that passenger numbers were recovering, but the airport operator now expects to reach its original 100 million target by the end of 2027.

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest hub for international passenger traffic, handled 18.6 million passengers in the first quarter of 2026, down from 23.4 million a year earlier.

Griffiths said operating capacity had since recovered to 84% of pre-war levels, while passenger traffic had returned to 78%.

“Both the connecting market and the point-to-point market have very strong momentum, and I think they will continue to perform strongly,” he said.

Longer-range aircraft could support growth

Griffiths said advances in smaller, longer-range aircraft could help drive further growth by allowing airlines to launch nonstop services to more destinations.

Dubai currently has direct connections to 240 cities, a figure Griffiths expects to rise by mid-2027.

The composition of passenger traffic has changed little since before the war, he said, with India, Saudi Arabia and Britain remaining among Dubai International’s key markets.

Griffiths also said lessons from the conflict could influence the design of Dubai’s new airport, with planners considering changes aimed at making the facility more resilient to future disruptions.

“There will be things we will seek to strengthen, and we may make changes to the design of the new airport to make it more resilient to crises in light of the Iran war,” he said.