Dubai International Airport (IATA: DXB, ICAO: OMDB) (Arabic: مطار دبي الدولي‎) is an international airport serving Dubai. It is a major aviation hub in the Middle East, and is the main airport of Dubai. It is situated in the Al Garhoud district, 4 km (2.5 mi) southeast of Dubai. The airport is operated by the Department of Civil Aviation and is the home base of Dubai's international airline, Emirates and Emirates SkyCargo; the Emirates hub is the largest airline hub in the Middle East; Emirates handles 60% of all passenger traffic, and accounts for 38% of all aircraft movements at the airport. Dubai Airport is also the base for low-cost carrier, Flydubai. As of July 2010, there are over 6,000 weekly flights operated by 130 airlines to over 215 destinations across every continent except Antarctica.

Dubai Airport is spread over an area of 7200 acres of land. In 2011 DXB handled a record 50.98 million in passenger traffic, a 8% increase over the 2010 fiscal year. This made it the 7th busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic and the 4th busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic. In addition to being an important passenger traffic hub, the airport was the 6th busiest cargo airport in world, handling 2.27 million tonnes of cargo in 2011 The total number of commercial aircraft movements was 326,317 in 2011. As of January 2012, DXB is the 6th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, and the 14th busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic.

Dubai (/duːˈbaɪ/ doo-BY; Arabic: دبيّ‎ Dubeii; IPA: [du'beii]) is an emirate within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A city within the emirate is also named Dubai. The emirate is located south east of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature. Dubai City is located on the emirate's northern coastline.

The earliest mention of Dubai is in 1095, and the earliest settlement known as Dubai town dates from 1799. Dubai was formally established in 1833 by Sheikh Maktoum bin Buti al Maktoum when he persuaded 800 members of the Bani Yas tribe, living in what is now part of Saudi Arabia, to follow him to the Dubai Creek by the Al Abu Falasa clan of Bani Yas. It remained under clan control when the United Kingdom assumed the protection of Dubai in 1892. Its geographical location made it an important trading hub and by the beginning of the 20th century, it was an important port.