Zayed International Airport is Abu Dhabi’s bid to be a place people change planes, not just a place people fly to. Terminal A is the instrument, and it is one of the most ambitious airport buildings constructed anywhere this decade. Here is what it is and how it is performing.
Two dates, often merged
Get these the right way round, because most coverage runs them together.
Terminal A began operations on 1 November 2023, with an Etihad ceremonial flight the evening before. The transition ran in three stages: Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and fifteen other international carriers on 1 November, Etihad on sixteen daily flights from 9 November, and all 28 airlines fully operational by 14 November. Readiness trials involved more than 11,000 volunteers.
The renaming came later. Under the directives of the UAE President, Abu Dhabi International Airport became Zayed International Airport with effect from 9 February 2024, coinciding with the official opening ceremony of Terminal A.
The building
Terminal A was designed in its entirety by Kohn Pedersen Fox — in the practice’s own words, “from airside to landside, building to furniture” — with engineering by Arup, for Abu Dhabi Airports.
It is X-shaped, with four piers themed on Abu Dhabi’s desert, sea, city and oasis. At its widest it measures 319 metres; paired leaning arches span up to 180 metres; and the largely column-free Departure Hall stands 50 metres high above a 260,000 square metre stone mosaic floor. Two four-storey buildings sit beneath the central roof, one housing a 138-room hotel.
Capacity is 45 million passengers a year, handling 79 aircraft at once. The baggage system processes up to 19,200 bags an hour, and the terminal was the first in the world to deploy all nine biometric airport touchpoints. Retail runs to 35,000 square metres across 163 shops and food outlets.
The centrepiece artwork is Sana Al Nour by Carpenter | Lowings with KPF — 22 metres tall, built from 1,632 individual curved leaves of translucent glass, designed to direct light and air from Departures through to Arrivals. In December 2024 the terminal was named World’s Most Beautiful Airport at the Prix Versailles.
The transfer bet
Here is the strategic point. KPF states that the centralised baggage handling system “has enabled the fastest transfer connection time of just 45 minutes, which is best in class”, with an average kerb-to-gate walk of twelve minutes. The X-plan was calibrated specifically to avoid needing an automated people mover in phase one.
That is an argument about competing with the region’s established hubs on connection speed rather than on size. Abu Dhabi Airports’ own language is more measured, describing the airport as “a preferred hub for both point-to-point and transfer traffic” after it crossed 100,000 passengers a day on several days in 2025.
No official figure exists for what share of traffic is connecting, and we are not going to estimate one.
The numbers
2025 was the strongest year in the operator’s history: more than 33 million passengers across the emirate’s five airports, with Zayed International taking a record 32.5 million — around 98% of passenger traffic. The fourth quarter alone brought 8.59 million, up 13.8% year on year, with 39 route launches, seven new airlines and cargo of nearly 770,000 tonnes, up 12%. In 2024 the group handled 29.4 million, itself up 28.1% on 2023.
Etihad’s own year was similarly strong: 22.4 million passengers in 2025, up 21%, on a fleet grown to 127 aircraft and a network expanded from 94 to 110 destinations, with a load factor of 88.3% and profit after tax of AED 2.6 billion. Point-to-point traffic to Abu Dhabi rose to 5.5 million from 4.6 million, and its stopover programme grew from 80,000 visitors to 170,000.
Scale, though, is worth stating plainly. In the same year Dubai International handled 95.2 million guests. Abu Dhabi is not competing with DXB on volume, and its strategy does not require it to.
Two details worth knowing before you fly
US Customs and Border Protection moved into Terminal A, making Abu Dhabi “the only US preclearance facility in the Middle East and Asia” — you clear US immigration before departure and arrive domestically. For anyone flying to the United States regularly, that alone can decide which airport you use.
The Northern Runway reopened ahead of schedule in September 2024 after rehabilitation involving 210,000 tonnes of asphalt, a new instrument landing system and the replacement of more than 1,200 halogen airfield lights with LEDs.
The operator
Abu Dhabi Airports was created in 2006 and runs five commercial airports: Zayed International, Al Ain International, Al Bateen Executive, Delma Island and Sir Bani Yas Island, plus Abu Dhabi Duty Free and the Airports Free Zone. The airport was inaugurated at its current location in 1982; the original 1969 airport on Abu Dhabi Island is today Al Bateen Executive.
For the wider picture of how the capital is positioning itself, see our guides to the Saadiyat Cultural District that gives visitors a reason to stop, to AD Ports Group on the maritime side of the same trade strategy, and to the cost of living in Abu Dhabi. Travellers comparing the two cities may want Abu Dhabi or Dubai.
Primary sources: Abu Dhabi Media Office on the Terminal A opening, the renaming announcement, Kohn Pedersen Fox on the design and Abu Dhabi Airports on 2025 traffic.
