Al Maktoum International Airport

About Al Maktoum International Airport

Dubai International Airport is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic as of 2024. It is also the busiest airport in the Middle East as of 2024, the second-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic as of 2024, the busiest airport for Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 movements, and the airport with the highest average number of passengers per flight. In 2024, the airport handled over 92 million passengers, over 2.2 million tonnes of cargo and registered over 450,000 aircraft movements. Source: "Dubai International Airport" by Wikipedia contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_International_Airport), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edit history on the linked Wikipedia page.

Overview

Al Maktoum International Airport is the main commercial airport for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its IATA code is DWC and its ICAO code is OMDW. The clocks here run on Asia/Dubai, the runway sits about 114 ft above sea level, and the airport is a mid-sized regional airport, with around 48 scheduled departure pairs in the public OpenFlights schedule plus onward connections through partner airlines.

Terminals and concourses

Most travellers will pass through one of a handful of terminal areas at Al Maktoum International Airport. Bigger fields tend to split domestic and international traffic into separate halls, each with its own arrivals area, immigration counters, customs and a landside check-in concourse. Signage is bilingual wherever the local language and English share the airport, and walking between terminals at Dubai's main gateway is usually possible on foot. Where the aprons stretch more than a kilometre, a shuttle bus or an automated people mover takes over.

Lounges and amenities

Lounge options at Al Maktoum International Airport match what you would expect from a mid-sized regional airport. There is normally at least one airline-run lounge for premium-cabin passengers and elite-status flyers, plus an independent or contract lounge that sells day passes and accepts programmes like Priority Pass, DragonPass, Plaza Premium and LoungeKey. Inside, you can usually count on hot food, espresso, charging at every seat, decent Wi-Fi, and showers at the busier terminals. Quiet zones, prayer rooms and family areas tend to sit landside near check-in.

Getting to and from the airport

Getting between Al Maktoum International Airport and central Dubai is straightforward. Licensed taxis queue at marked curbs outside arrivals, with metered or zoned fares posted at the rank. Ride-hail apps have a designated pickup point, often one level up at departures or in a nearby lot. Public transport varies by city. A primary gateway like this one almost always offers an express train, a metro line or a dedicated airport bus running from before the first wave of departures until after the last arrival. Long-stay parking, rental car desks and hotel shuttle stops are clustered together on the landside.

Tips for travellers

A few things worth knowing for Al Maktoum International Airport. Aim to arrive at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international one, especially during peak banks. Local time is Asia/Dubai, so plan your transfers around the time difference if you are coming in from another zone. Save a screenshot of your boarding pass before you leave the house, since terminal Wi-Fi is hit and miss when it gets busy. If you are connecting on a partner airline, check whether your bag is tagged through to the final destination, because Al Maktoum International Airport handles a mix of in-terminal and inter-terminal connections. With 48 direct destinations on the public schedule, this is a useful node for both point-to-point trips and onward connections across United Arab Emirates and the wider region.

More guides for DWC

Four extra pages dig deeper into lounges, layovers, getting to and from the airport, and the terminal layout itself. Open whichever one matches the problem in front of you.

Direct destinations from DWC

These are the cities you can fly to nonstop from Al Maktoum International Airport, based on the published schedule. Tap any one to open its own terminal, lounge and route guide.