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Dubai deep dive: How Emirates runs its megahub

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Dubai International (DXB) is the main airport in the United Arab Emirates, and the busiest in the world based on the number of seats offered per month.

The airport, located 13 kilometers from downtown Dubai, has two runways almost 4,500 meters length and three passenger terminals. In addition, it is the hub for two of the country’s most important airlines, Emirates and flydubai.

Emirates has 261 aircraft in its fleet, including Airbus A380-800, Boeing 777-200(LR), Boeing 777(F) and Boeing 777-300(ER). For its part, flydubai has an all Boeing 737 fleet, with a mix of the 800s and MAX versions.

According to preliminary statistics, Dubai Airport was near to 87 million passengers during 2023, a 32% increase compared to 2022, reaching the 2nd place globally behind Atlanta, which surpassed 104 million.

The airport’s passenger record was in 2018, with more than 89 million passengers. In 2019 it reached 86 million, and in 2020 and 2021, due to the worldwide pandemic, the numbers dropped to 18 and 29 million respectively. A strong recovery was already seen in 2022, being close to 70 million passengers.

Focusing on Emirates, the leading airline in the UAE that operates at the region’s main airport, it offers non-stop flights to 60 markets worldwide from/to Dubai.

In line with our database, Emirates has over 118 non-stop routes operated at Dubai airport, as well as 13 with stopovers.

We review Emirates’ non-stop routes from/to Dubai:

Africa and Middle East

From/toWeekly frequencyAircraft used

Algeria

Algiers (ALG)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Angola

Luanda (LAD)5Boeing 777-300(ER)

Bahrain

Bahrain (BAH)1677L/77W

Egypt

Cairo (CAI)26A388/77W

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa (ADD)6Boeing 777-300(ER)

Ghana

Accra (ACC)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Jordan

Amman (AMM)7Airbus A380

Kenya

Nairobi (NBO)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Kuwait

Kuwait City (KWI)2477L/77W

Mauritius

Port Louis (MRU)14Airbus A380

Morocco

Casablanca (CMN)7Airbus A380

Oman

Muscat (MCT)877L/77W

Saudi Arabia

Dammam (DMM)18Boeing 777-300(ER)
Jeddah (JED)21Airbus A380
Medina (MED)14Boeing 777-300(ER)
Riyadh (RUH)21Boeing 777-300(ER)

Seychelles

Victoria (SEZ)13Boeing 777-300(ER)

South Africa

Cape Town (CPT)14Boeing 777-300(ER)
Durban (DUR)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Johannesburg (JNB)21A388/77W

Tanzania

Dar es-Salaam6Boeing 777-300(ER)

Tunisia

Tunis (TUN)5Boeing 777-300(ER)

Uganda

Entebbe (EBB)5Boeing 777-300(ER)

Zambia

Lusaka (LUN)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

America

From/toWeekly frequencyAircraft used

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro (GIG)4Boeing 777-200(LR)
Sao Paulo (GRU)7Airbus A380

Canada

Montreal (YUL)7Boeing 777-200(LR)
Toronto (YYZ)7Airbus A380

United States

Boston (BOS)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Chicago (ORD)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Dallas (DFW)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Houston (IAH)7Airbus A380
Los Angeles (LAX)7Airbus A380
Miami (MIA)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
New York (JFK)14Airbus A380
Orlando (MCO)5Boeing 777-300(ER)
San Francisco (SFO)7Airbus A380
Seattle (SEA)6Boeing 777-300(ER)
Washington (IAD)7Airbus A380

Asia and Oceania

From/toWeekly frequencyAircraft used

Australia

Brisbane (BNE)14A388/77W
Melbourne (MEL)14Airbus A380
Perth (PER)7Airbus A380
Sydney (SYD)21Airbus A380

Bangladesh

Dhaka (DAC)21Boeing 777-300(ER)

China

Beijing (PEK)14Boeing 777-300(ER)
Guangzhou (CAN)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Shanghai (PVG)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong (HKG)14A388/77W

India

Ahmedabad (AMD)977L/77W
Bengaluru (BLR)21A388/77W
Chennai (MAA)21Boeing 777-300(ER)
Cochin (COK)1477L/77W
Delhi (DEL)28Boeing 777-300(ER)
Hyderabad (HYD)21Boeing 777-300(ER)
Kolkata (CCU)11Boeing 777-300(ER)
Mumbai (BOM)35A388/77L/77W
Trivandrum (TRV)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Indonesia

Denpasar (DPS)14A388/77W
Jakarta (CGK)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Iran

Tehran (IKA)17Boeing 777-300(ER)

Iraq

Baghdad (BGW)777L/77W
Basra (BSR)777L/77W

Japan

Osaka (KIX)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Tokyo (HND)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Tokyo (NRT)7Airbus A380

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur (KUL)13A388/77W

Maldives

Male (MLE)28Boeing 777-300(ER)

New Zealand

Auckland (AKL)7Airbus A380

Pakistan

Islamabad (ISB)10Boeing 777-300(ER)
Karachi (KHI)2177L/77W
Lahore (LHE)10Boeing 777-300(ER)
Peshawar (PEW)5Boeing 777-300(ER)
Sialkot (SKT)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Philippines

Cebu (CEB)5Boeing 777-300(ER)
Manila (MNL)20Boeing 777-300(ER)

Russia

Moscow (DME)21A388/77W
St. Petersburg (LED)6Boeing 777-300(ER)

Singapore

Singapore (SIN)21A388/77W

South Korea

Seoul (ICN)10A388/77W

Sri Lanka

Colombo (CMB)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Thailand

Bangkok (BKK)35Airbus A380
Phuket (HKT)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Vietnam

Hanoi (HAN)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Europe

From/toWeekly frequencyAircraft used

Belgium

Brussels (BRU)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Cyprus

Larnaca (LCA)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Czech Republic

Prague (PRG)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Denmark

Copenhagen (CPH)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

France

Lyon (LYS)6Boeing 777-300(ER)
Nice (NCE)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Paris (CDG)21Airbus A380

Germany

Düsseldorf (DUS)14A388/77W
Frankfurt (FRA)21A388/77W
Hamburg (HAM)14Boeing 777-300(ER)
Munich (MUC)14Airbus A380

Greece

Athens (ATH)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Ireland

Dublin (DUB)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Italy

Bologna (BLQ)7Boeing 777-300(ER)
Milan (MXP)14Airbus A380
Rome (FCO)14A388/77W
Venice (VCE)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Netherlands

Amsterdam (AMS)18A388/77W

Norway

Oslo (OSL)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Poland

Warsaw (WAW)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Portugal

Lisbon (LIS)14Boeing 777-300(ER)

Spain

Barcelona (BCN)14A388/77L
Madrid (MAD)7Airbus A380

Sweden

Stockholm (ARN)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Switzerland

Geneva (GVA)14Boeing 777-300(ER)
Zurich (ZRH)14A388/77W

Türkiye

Istanbul (IST)19A388/77L/77W

United Kingdom

Birmingham (BHX)14A388/77W
Glasgow (GLA)7Airbus A380
London Gatwick (LGW)21A388/77W
London Heathrow (LHR)49A388/77W
London Stansted (STN)14Boeing 777-300(ER)
Manchester (MAN)21Airbus A380
Newcastle (NCL)7Boeing 777-300(ER)

Emirates routes to/from Dubai (that are not non-stop)

Map by gcmap.com

Argentina

  • Buenos Aires (EZE) via GIG: 4 weekly · Boeing 777-200(LR)

 

Australia

  • Melbourne (MEL) via SIN: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)

 

Hong Kong

  • Hong Kong (HKG) via BKK: 7 weekly · Airbus A380

 

Ivory Coast

  • Abidjan (ABJ) via ACC: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)

 

Maldives

  • Male (MLE) via CMB: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)

 

Malta

  • Malta (MLA) via LCA: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)

 

Mexico

  • Mexico City (MEX) via BCN: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-200(LR)

 

New Zealand

 

Philippines

 

Senegal/Guinea

 

United States

  • Newark (EWR) via ATH: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
  • New York (JFK) via MXP: 7 weekly · Airbus A380

 

Zimbabwe

  • Harare (HRE) via LUN: 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)

 

Regarding upcoming additions, the following are the new markets to Emirates’ worldwide network from/to Dubai:

Australia

  • Adelaide (ADL): effective October 28th

 

Cambodia

 

Colombia

  • Bogotá (BOG) via MIA: effective June 3rd

 


 

Cover photo: Mikhail Grigoryev – JetPhotos (Dubai, United Arab Emirates).

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