UAE airports implement AI as passenger volumes increase.

As passenger traffic continues its inexorable rise across the Gulf, the region’s airports are rethinking how to scale without building more terminals.

The next phase of development, industry experts say, will rely less on concrete and steel and more on using shared data to move passengers quickly from check-in to the boarding gate. 

GCC countries that are embracing tech innovation are heavily leaning into the possibilities through advances in biometrics and AI.

For SITA, the tech group that provides much of aviation’s back-end infrastructure, the answer lies in connecting existing digital and IT systems. 

Owned collectively by the air transport industry, the organisation works with airlines, airports and governments – a role that gives it reach across a sector whose participants do not always communicate efficiently.

“The technology already exists,” said Selim Bouri, SITA’s president for the Middle East and Africa. “What changes performance is how deeply systems are connected.” That integration means looking across the passenger journey – from baggage handling to immigration and boarding. 

In the Middle East, Bouri said this data-driven approach is used alongside automation to cut queues and manage peak-time congestion.

The clearest example is at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport. 

There, SITA has helped connect the airport operator, airline Etihad Airways and border authorities into a single biometric journey, reducing the need for UAE citizens to present a passport. 

Going from the kerb outside Terminal A to boarding has since October taken on average “around 10 to 12 minutes”, longer at peak times, Bouri said.

Similar approaches to reduce friction are being developed in Doha and Dubai. 

Attitudes in the region are helping enable that shift. 

SITA’s 2025 Passenger IT Insights shows that 78 percent of fliers are happy to share their digital identity and biometrics ahead of travel, with adoption strongest in the Middle East and Africa. 

Travellers in this region fly 3.8 times a year on average, compared with 3.5 flights in Europe and the Americas.

Baggage, long a source of frustration, is another area where systems integration is changing the passenger experience. 

SITA’s WorldTracer system, which tracks bags globally, has now incorporated image recognition and introduced an interface allowing fliers to authorise airlines to access their Apple AirTag location – the coin-shaped device helps users locate personal items such as keys, bags and luggage through other Apple devices.

“It’s incredibly frustrating to know where your bag is but your airline doesn’t,” Bouri said. “This closes that gap.”

The group is also using AI to help pilots and operations teams model flight trajectories showing how taking slightly longer routes can reduce congestion, fuel burn and emissions overall.

“Think of it like using Waze or Google Maps,” Bouri said. Passengers, he added, are increasingly open to those trade-offs if the benefits are clearly explained.

Aviation expert Linus Benjamin Bauer, of BAA & Partners, agrees that change is afoot.

“Across the Gulf, leading airports are using shared data, biometrics and AI to extract more capacity from existing infrastructure rather than defaulting to new terminals,” he said.

“As passengers become more willing to share data in exchange for faster, more predictable journeys, airports are prioritising digital platforms and decision-support tools over physical expansion.”

How tech is taking off at the Gulf’s airports

AI before missed connections

Airports in Doha and Jeddah can flag passengers at risk of missing tight connections in real time. Staff can then intervene early, including dispatching buggies or escorts, while pilots can decide whether to wait when doing so causes less disruption overall.

Biometric journeys

UAE residents travelling with Etihad in Abu Dhabi can move from terminal entry to boarding in “under 12 minutes” and clear immigration in “as little as seven seconds” using biometric verification and smart-gate tech. The process has been in place since October 2025.

Passenger-flow management

At Manama and Muscat airports data-driven passenger-flow management uses AI to direct staff to security and border control in peak periods. Passenger routing can also be adjusted in real time, reducing bottlenecks and giving travellers more-predictable journey times.