Dubai International Airport began 2026 with 8.7 million passengers in January, one of its busiest months ever. Weeks later, the airport that ended 2025 as the world’s busiest for international passengers was responding to ballistic missile alerts as the Iran war upended aviation across the Gulf.
“How many CEOs have you interviewed that have been subjected to direct ballistic attack from an enemy to your infrastructure?” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths asked Fortune. He said DXB received roughly 111 separate alerts of ballistic activity during the crisis.
