Dubai International Airport (DXB) is expected to be the busiest airport in February 2026 in the world by the number of available seats. However, this does not mean that Dubai will be the busiest airport this year, or that it will even serve the most passengers in February 2026. Indeed, just because flights are arriving carrying a certain number of seats doesn’t mean passengers are in those seats. These are some of the reasons why there may be conflicting headlines claiming Atlanta is the world’s busiest airport.
In 2025, the load factor for Dubai flights was 77%, while Delta’s load factor is around 84% (sometimes 90%), and Delta has a 74% share of Atlanta Airport. This article will examine what you need to know about how Dubai is the busiest airport in February 2026, and why Atlanta may still be the busiest. It will also address why Chicago O’Hare is claiming to be busier than Atlanta.
According to OAG, Dubai International (DXB) is not only the busiest airport in the world for February 2026, but the busiest on two measures. It is the world’s busiest global airport in terms of combined international and domestic capacity, and the busiest airport for international traffic alone. That said, this becomes a little less impressive because the airport does not operate domestic flights, much like Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
OAG estimates that Dubai will serve a total of 4,895,656 seats in February, around 300,000 more than Georgia’s Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, with 4.6 million seats. Both of these airports are unchanged in their rankings from February 2025. OAG stated that “in February 2026, Dubai International Airport (DXB) continues to lead as the World’s Busiest Airport, with 4.90 million seats, representing a 2% increase compared with February 2025.
