UAE · Gulf logistics
DP World says Jebel Ali handled 15.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2024, about one million more than a year earlier. Breakbulk cargo reached 5.4 million metric tonnes.
Sources checked
The 2023 figure is inferred from the 2024 total and its stated year-on-year increase.
Bahrain International Airport moved 167,678 tonnes of cargo and mail in the first nine months of 2026, down 43.2% from the same period in 2025. Month-by-month Civil Aviation records show a March low and a recovery that varied sharply through September.
Bahrain Airport Company identified 12,500 square metres for the first phase and another 52,000 for the second. It links the project to a longer-term airport cargo capacity target of 1.3 million tonnes annually.
Khalifa Bin Salman Port handled 408,929 TEU in 2025, close to 409,382 in 2024. Transshipment fell to 2,450 TEU, while imports and exports each remained near 200,000 TEU.
DP World reported moving 500,000 TEU on its GCC road and rail network from March to August 2026. Cross-border routes carried freight, while a separate Dubai depot handled the empty containers those routes also need to keep in circulation.
Dubai’s proposed Food District would expand Al Aweer’s produce market into a 29 million square foot wholesale and logistics hub. DP World’s plan adds cold storage and processing and schedules the start of the first phase for 2027.
Dubai International handled 2.51 million tonnes of cargo in 2019, while Dubai World Central handled 911,571 tonnes. The quarterly records show how the two-airport system operated before freighter transfers reshaped it during the pandemic.
Dubai International reported 95.2 million passenger journeys in 2025. India led its country markets with 11.9 million, followed by Saudi Arabia at 7.5 million and the United Kingdom at 6.3 million.
Emirates SkyCargo reported around 1.2 million tonnes in the six months through September 2026, down 1% on a year earlier. Cargo revenue moved in the opposite direction, rising 52%. Emirates attributed the split to tighter airfreight capacity and demand displaced from sea routes.
The proposed 238 kilometre railway would connect Sohar Port to the UAE rail network. A preliminary logistics agreement envisages seven container trains a week after the cross-border line is complete.
Jeddah’s South Container Terminal handled more than 221,200 TEU in July 2026, including 79,720 TEU of exports. Its operator also reported added handling equipment and a separate logistics park under development near the terminal.
A joint venture led by CMA CGM handled 1.3 million TEU at its Khalifa Port terminal in 2025. A second phase would lift that terminal’s rated capacity by half, while increasing the design capacity of the whole Abu Dhabi port by about 9%.
Kuwait’s public works ministry and China Communications Construction Company signed a Phase I construction contract on 22 December 2025. The contractor later reported a value of CNY 28.43 billion in its stock exchange filing.
Oman recorded 6.26 million tonnes of inbound goods at land customs points in 2025. Khatmat Milaha and Hatta accounted for about 61% of the land total, even as smaller entries recorded gains.
Oman's Mina al-Fahal recorded 338.4 million barrels of loaded oil and 243 vessels in 2025. The previous year recorded 350.3 million barrels and 229 vessels.
Oman’s statistical yearbook puts goods received by sea at 45.09 million tons in 2025. Sohar remained the largest entry point at 30.56 million tons, while Al Duqm rose to 8.19 million tons.
Mwani Qatar operates Hamad and Al Ruwais as commercial ports and has redeveloped Old Doha Port for cruise passengers. Its published coordinates place Al Ruwais about 100 kilometres from the Doha Port reference point in a straight line.
Qatar Airways Cargo, IAG Cargo and MASkargo sent 11 tonnes of copper foil from Kuala Lumpur to Chicago via Doha and Dublin. IAG disclosed the first three-carrier shipment in September 2026 while the companies were still preparing the wider joint business.
APM Terminals put the expansion of Oman’s Port of Salalah at US$300 million. Its February 2025 milestone release describes work on all six berths, new cranes and additional yard capacity to support larger ships and new network services.
Saudi airports handled 1.185 million tonnes of air cargo in 2025. Riyadh and Jeddah accounted for 87.4% between them. Adding Dammam brings the three largest airports to roughly 98.5% of the recorded total.
King Fahad Industrial Port in Yanbu accounted for 39.8% of cargo loaded and unloaded at the Saudi ports in a 2024 official table. The other King Fahad Industrial Port, in Jubail, accounted for 19.0%.
Saudi Arabia recorded more than 290 million delivery-platform orders in 2024. The General Authority for Statistics also reported faster average delivery and growth in active workers, providing three ways to measure how the platform business changed.
Makkah Region accounted for about 20.36 million square metres of activated logistics-centre area in Saudi Arabia in 2024. That was about 59% of the national area reported by the statistics authority.
Saudi Arabia's railways moved 15.6 million tonnes of freight in 2024, up from 10.9 million in 2020. The East Train carried 887,865 standard containers in 2024.
Saudi transport and storage activities reported SAR 178 billion in operating revenue in 2024. Land and pipeline transport generated the largest revenue, while warehousing and support activities recorded the largest reported operating expenditure.
Saudi Arabia counted 1,179 valid customs clearance activity licences at seaports at the end of 2024. The statistics authority reported 722 at airports and 465 at road ports.
The UAE inaugurated its national freight railway in February 2023, extending a network whose first stage had operated since 2016. Etihad Rail reported moving more than 16.5 million tonnes of sulphur and aggregates combined in 2025, plus 148,000 containers.
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