Europe to Dubai is an enormously important market, not just for transit passengers but increasingly for tourism, including from Russia. In January, 74 European airports have non-stop or one-stop flights involving 29 airlines. The B777-300ER remains the leading aircraft, closely followed by the A380, but even the Sukhoi SSJ100 is used.

Europe to Dubai: a service summary

In January 2022, 74 airports across Europe will be connected non-stop or one-stop to Dubai International, according to schedules information available via Cirium. These 74 airports include those in Turkey and European Russia, and all but one is served non-stop. The sole exception is Emirates' Malta-Larnaca-Dubai, a very long-standing routing.

Some 29 airlines are scheduled to serve Dubai from Europe, with approximately 3,215 departures across the month. With over one in every two flights (51.8%), it is mainly about Emirates. If its narrowbody partner flydubai is included, the pair have seven in every ten flights (71.6%). Next are Aeroflot (3.5%), Turkish Airlines (3.3%), and Wizz Air Hungary (2.6%).

Europe to Dubai in January 2022
All airports in orange have non-stop service to Dubai in January. Malta (MLA) is the sole exception, with a one-stop to the UAE's largest city via Larnaca (LCA). Image: GCMap.

The B777-300ER remains number-one

The B777-300ER remains the dominant type, and Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Air France, Aeroflot, and KLM will use the large Triple Seven. Emirates will deploy it to 29 airports across Europe, with Birmingham having more flights than any other.

While everyone might expect the A380 to be second, the fact that it is so close to the B777 – just one percentage point separates them – is perhaps more surprising. It is helped by British Airways also using the double-decker quadjet. Depending on the day, BA will deploy it either on the daytime flight to Dubai (BA107; arriving Dubai at 23:45) or overnight (BA105; arriving 07:45).

  1. B777-300ER
  2. A380
  3. B737 MAX 8
  4. B737-800
  5. A321neo
  6. A330-300
  7. A350-900
  8. B777-200LR
  9. B787-9
Azimuth Airlines SJ100
Russia's Azimuth will deploy the SSJ100 between Rostov and Dubai in January, a distance of 1,751 miles (2,818km). However, it'll only have four departures. Other less usual aircraft from Europe include the A340-300 (just one flight with SWISS on January 3rd). Photo: Anna Zvereva via Flickr.

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The top-10 routes

Across all operators, the top-10 leading European airports to Dubai are as follows. They're so important that over four in every ten flights involve them. As you'd expect, Heathrow is essential, with up to nine daily non-stops across Emirates (six) and BA (three).

Notice that two Moscow airports make it into the list, while two more fall further down it: Domodedovo in 13th and Zhukovsky in 69th. If these four Moscow-area airports are combined, they have up to 11 daily flights to Dubai across multiple operators. While narrowbodies rule, Emirates has a twice-daily A380 operation from Domodedovo.

  • Heathrow to Dubai
  • Istanbul Airport
  • Paris CDG
  • Amsterdam
  • Moscow Vnukovo
  • Kyiv Boryspil
  • Frankfurt
  • Moscow Sheremetyevo
  • Bucharest
  • Munich
Air France
Five daily flights operate between CDG and Dubai, three by Emirates (A380, B777-300ER) and two by Air France (B777-300ER, B787-9). Photo: Air France

And the least served

Meanwhile, Antalya, Grozny, Mineralnye Vody, Ufa, Zhukovsky, Makhachkala, Verona, Cluj-Napoca, Bratislava, and Perm are the ten routes with the least flights. The 2,254-mile (3,628km) link to the Russian city of Perm (code: PEE) has the fewest, with a once-weekly service by AZUR Air's B757-200s.

What airlines have you flown to Dubai? Share your experiences in the comments.