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Future of travel: GCC's mega airports to handle 500 million passengers annually
Massive fleet expansion and new technologies will change what’s possible in terms of routes expansion, higher efficiency and ultimate customer experience
- PUBLISHED: Sat 24 Jan 2026, 8:00 AM
Airports across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are expected to redefine the travel experience in the next 10 years as new mega hubs in Dubai and Riyadh will come online while secondary hubs in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Jeddah, Doha and Muscat will continue to expand and facilitate over 500 million passengers annually, experts say.
Industry specialists and aviation analysts said massive fleet expansion and new technologies will change what’s possible in terms of routes expansion, higher efficiency and ultimate customer experience. They opine that smaller Gulf states in six-nation bloc will carve out niche positions in cargo, multimodel logistics, tourism and specialised connectivity.
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Referring to latest data, experts said top 10 airports across the Gulf region recorded 11% year-on-year growth in passenger traffic by handling more than 327 million travellers last year compared to 293 million in 2023. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar remained dominant markets contributing significantly to gross domestic product of the three countries through economic activities, tourism promotion and jobs creation.
More than $100 billion investment is planned in airport infrastructure across the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia has allocated $50 billion approximately for airport projects, including the King Salman International Airport in Riyadh while Dubai is developing $35 billion Al Maktoum International Airport as Dubai International Airport (DXB) is expected to exceed 96 million passengers this year, pushing against capacity limits. Upon completion, Al Maktoum Airport is expected to be five times the size of DXB, with capacity for up to 260 million passengers annually.
Among other Gulf states, Oman has announced plans for six new airports by 2028–29, with design tenders already issued for several locations while Kuwait’s Terminal 2 expansion will raise capacity to 25 million passengers a year. Bahrain is also planning a greenfield facility on a reclaimed island as its current airport nears capacity.
“Across the GCC, aviation is no longer just an enabler of growth it’s becoming one of the primary engines of economic transformation. These are not marginal numbers. In several GCC countries, aviation is now deeply woven into national economic models, labour markets and long-term diversification strategies,” Tony K, UAE and Saudi Global Talent acquisition expert, said.
GCC States, including the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, have made significant progress in building world-class aviation systems. In contrast, lower-income countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria face outdated infrastructure, under-resourced aviation authorities, and limited investment capacity, according to the International Air Transport Association.
On the cargo side, Dubai and Doha together handled over 4.8 million tonnes of air freight — more than half of the GCC total. Sharjah International Airport emerged as the fastest-growing air cargo hub, with 38.5% growth in 2024 and nearly 195,000 tonnes handled, including significant sea-air multimodal flows. Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait recorded modest but positive cargo growth, boosted by e-commerce, new facilities and network optimisation.
GCC Airports to Thrive
Saj Ahmad, Chief Analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, said GCC airports will continue to thrive as the proliferation of one-stop and direct travel to GCC states for business and tourism remain focal points for travellers of all kinds.
“While Qatar is ramping up Hamad International alongside the a bigger UAE capital hub at Zayed International in Abu Dhabi, the worlds busiest international airport at Dubai International is starting the groundwork for Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central to become the next and newest nexus point for travel — and will be home to Emirates and flydubai, particularly as those two carriers ingest up to 500 new airplanes that they have on order,” Ahmad told Invest GCC.
He said Saudi Arabia is also opening up its potential, but its decades behind the likes of the UAE and Qatar in the vacation and even business stakes.
“While Oman is still more appealing than the likes of Bahrain and Kuwait, the launch of Riyadh Air to bolster Saudi aviation interests will take a very long time to catch up — within the next five years, the gap between Saudi aviation and that of the UAE will get bigger, not smaller — as the UAE continues to lead the way in airport development, technology, new gates, AI and other innovative features that make travelling there easier,” he said.
John Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting, said the aviation sector is vibrant across the Gulf region and there are numerous individual opportunities. However, only the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have sizeable hubs with the capability of strongly developing further connecting traffic.
“There are so many global geopolitical uncertainties that it is not possible to be precise. All three states, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, recognise the critical economic importance of the commercial aviation sector to their growth plans and as such we can therefore expect to see continued focus on investing in airport development” Strictland said during an interview.
Andrew Charlton, Managing Director at Geneva-based consultancy Aviation Advocacy, said the future for airports is tied to the future for airlines, in that airports depend on passenger traffic. “That is not to say that they are helpless. Airports can help develop their local city as a destination — something we are seeing across the GCC at the moment — and they can make transfers and connections easier, which will encourage connection traffic.
Again, that is something all the GCC airports understand and are working on. The airports are pushing the technology, with things line immigration processes, baggage handling and check-in facilities all state of the art. There is a remarkable focus on the passenger experience as well…”
To a question about GCC states such as Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman are spending on aviation infrastructure to catch up Saudi, UAE and Qatar, he said: “I think that the effort to catch up will be of huge benefit to the states and to the GCC more generally. I am all for continued competition between airports,” he said.
Dubai, Doha Lead
Ahmad said Dubai International is far ahead of all its global rivals, even those in the GCC. “From facial recognition, AI driven solutions inside and out of the terminals, the aircraft aprons and back of office work, smart gates and faster transit times, Dubai International is leveraging technology to further enhance its appeal while making it simpler than ever for travellers to move to and through the airport unaided. Even those passengers that require physical intervention due to having a visa are speedily navigated through the airport because of resource deployment, ensuring that queues are kept to a minimum,” he said.
Similarly, he said Hamad International and other Saudi airports like Jeddah are doing the same, but they do not cater for or handle anywhere near the staggering numbers that Dubai International does.
“Other gateways like Heathrow are frankly decrepit, aged facilities with little direct investment showcasing anything close to what Dubai International has on offer. The continued investment by the UAE in aviation infrastructure shows just how and why it has a superior edge compared to other airports,” he said.
Tech to Ease Travel
In terms of technology, Charlton of Aviation Advocacy said travellers facilities and immigration processes, Dubai, Doha and Jeddah/Riadh airports are much ahead of global peers.
“At the same time, the passenger volumes continue to grow very rapidly, so there is a need for that constant improvement, because staying ahead of one’s peers requires constant development and attention,” he said.
First and foremost, he said the developments are going to cope, at current levels, the new volumes. “Secondly, I think that there will be less intrusive security processes, facial recognition for check-in and processing and more intuitive processes throughout the passenger stay. AI will help keep passengers better informed. More importantly, on the airside, where the aircraft are handled, we will see more refined and speedier processing.”
Ahmad said the biggest bugbear is the removal of liquids and laptops. The introduction of more deep scanning capable machines will mean the need to remove these items will be a thing of the past.
Similarly, the move away from paper ticketing to smart phone wallets may also vanish as airports and airlines move towards facial recognition for security transiting and even become the defacto boarding pass of the future — ensuring even tighter security measures since no one can replicate another human face in the same way that a fake boarding pass on a phone can be conjured up.
“More attentive AI solutions for camera technology, security screening and checkpoints will mean that passengers can enjoy simpler movement in an airport. In the same way that you can buy a ticket on the Dubai Metro and then embark, a vision like that for flying is a certain possibility — a person can simply show up at the airport, buy a ticket on site, check in any luggage, go straight through an AI-powered security screen and through to the departure gate within a matter of minutes — this is not out of the realm of possibilities since much of that technology already exists — it’s a matter of deploying it.”
Strickland of JLS Consulting said the use of technology in customer-facing areas at the leading GCC airports is leading edge with many sizeable airports in countries around the world having a lot of work to do to catch up.
A Very Long Road Ahead
While Oman stands the best bet of making inroads into the UAE/Qatar demand pool for travel, Bahrain and Kuwait have long since languished to the point where no matter what they do, they will always be a regional afterthought in terms of business, travel and holidays, according to Ahmad.
“Short of people visiting families and friends, Bahrain and Kuwait simply offer nothing to compete. Even their respective airlines, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways, are surviving on piecemeal traffic, while the likes of Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways and Etihad are gobbling up regional and international traffic with ease — and in many cases — these big airlines don’t have enough airplanes to cater for them all (a situation not helped by the production issues faced at Airbus and Boeing).”
Longer term, he said Oman thanks to its vibrant and rich history offers a super alternative and possibly less congested GCC gateway for travel, but as it stands, Oman, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar — they will all stand with the eye of jealousy around how the UAE, and specifically Dubai, have managed to enmesh commercial aviation to their location and make it a thriving hub for travel.
“All these rivals have a very long road ahead to try and compete — and at the same time, the UAE will not be slowing down its visions for growing into an even bigger nexus point for international travel.”
Challenges Remain
Aviation experts and analysts said the rising passenger demand is concentrated in a relatively short time window as mega airports, new terminals and fleet expansions are coming online over the next five to 10 years, compressing the talent challenge and intensifies competition for the same profiles across multiple markets.
Charlton of Aviation Advocacy said the first and most obvious challenge will be Dubai International Airport is reaching capacity and the move to the new airport at Dubai World Central. “The change over itself will be a huge challenge logistically. The second challenge is of course, keeping ahead of the passenger growth,” he said.
Ahmad of StrategicAero Research said the shadow of possible regional conflict(s) will always loom large over the region — but the sheer amount of traffic that traverses the Middle Eastern skies ensures that its in everyone’s interest to avoid conflict and pursue diplomacy.
For too long, even minor skirmishes has the potential to cause endless delays costing millions of dollars and inconveniencing passengers and airlines alike. However, the biggest challenger is infrastructure.
“While Dubai International can benefit from Dubai World Central being expanded in a different location, existing GCC airports looking to expand their current footprint will have to do so with the constraints of existing flights and trying to grow capacity without causing a traffic bottleneck or snafus that then forces everything to grind to a halt. This is why even several years after opening, Hamad International only handled approximately 52 million passengers in 2024 versus almost double that in Dubai International with 93 million passengers — these would-be rivals have a lot to do in order to catch up, if ever.”
Strickland of JLS Consulting said the aviation market is competitive, meaning other airports are also seeking their share of the market.
“In particular expansion in Turkey at the new Istanbul airport and in India with many new airports including at Delhi and Mumbai are ones to watch,” he said.
