Dubai may cut foreign flights

Dubai has told foreign airlines they may be limited to one daily round trip to its two airports from April 20 through May 31, while Emirates and flydubai keep broader schedules under the same system, according to letters seen by Reuters. (reuters.com) A March 27 email from Dubai Airports, reported by Reuters, said each foreign carrier could operate one daily round trip to Dubai International Airport and one to Al Maktoum International Airport during that period. Dubai Airports and Dubai’s media office did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. (reuters.com) The cap is tied to the Iran crisis and comes after weeks of airspace disruption across the region. Reuters reported that the restriction extends earlier temporary limits and that extra slots would be added only if capacity becomes available. (reuters.com) Dubai International handled 95.2 million passengers in 2025, and Dubai Airports said that was the highest annual international traffic ever recorded by any airport. Airports Council International separately said Dubai International remained the world’s busiest airport for international passengers. (media.dubaiairports.ae, (aci.aero)) India is the biggest foreign market at Dubai International, with 11.9 million passengers in 2025, so Indian airlines face the sharpest cuts. Reuters, citing Cirium schedule data, said Air India and Air India Express had planned more than 750 flights into Dubai International in April and May, while IndiGo had 481 and SpiceJet 61. (media.dubaiairports.ae, (reuters.com)) The Federation of Indian Airlines, which represents IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet, asked New Delhi to press Dubai to lift the curbs. It told India’s civil aviation ministry the policy created “anti-competitive market conditions” because UAE carriers were not subject to the same limit. (reuters.com, (travel.economictimes.indiatimes.com)) That complaint goes to the center of Dubai’s hub model. Emirates and flydubai feed huge connecting banks through Dubai, so a one-flight limit on rivals would cut direct access for foreign carriers while leaving Dubai-based airlines with much of the transfer traffic. (reuters.com, (media.dubaiairports.ae)) For travelers, the likely effects are fewer flight choices and tighter seat supply on routes that normally see multiple daily departures. Reuters reported that the one-flight rule reduces foreign airlines to 30 or 31 flights a month, compared with the hundreds of daily flights operated by Emirates and flydubai. (reuters.com) The measure is still framed through airline letters and reporting rather than a broad public decree, and the end date in those letters is May 31. Until Dubai says otherwise, the story is a temporary traffic restriction at one of the world’s biggest connecting airports, with foreign airlines carrying most of the cuts. (reuters.com)