Zayed International Airport Guide

Zayed International Airport sits 30 km east of Abu Dhabi city centre, serving the UAE capital and the second-largest aviation gateway in the country after Dubai. The airport was renamed in February 2024 after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE's founding father. It handled 28.8 million passengers in 2024, a 28% rise over the prior year, with 249,747 aircraft movements.

All airline operations moved to Terminal A in late 2023 after the previous three terminals were retired. Terminal A covers 742,000 square metres and can process 11,000 passengers per hour, giving the airport capacity for up to 45 million passengers annually. Two parallel runways, each 4,205 metres long, support the full range of widebody aircraft including the Airbus A380.

AUH is the only airport in the Middle East offering US border preclearance, available since January 2014 and now active on all Etihad Airways flights to the United States. The airport is a hub for Etihad Airways and serves over 30 international airlines flying to more than 125 destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.