Dubai's airport showcases transport ties to UK businesses seeking expansion

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Dubai’s transport infrastructure has allowed the emirate to build on its status as a financial centre, the former leader of the City of London has said.Prof Michael Mainelli, who…

Dubai’s transport infrastructure has allowed the emirate to build on its status as a financial centre, the former leader of the City of London has said.

Prof Michael Mainelli, who served as the City of London’s lord mayor in 2023 and 2024, said Dubai’s financial districts have maintained expansion mode as sustained growth at its international airport demonstrates.

“As long as those air routes can be kept open, I don’t see that Dubai is going to have much of a problem,” he told The National. “It's not a commercial calculation, it's just a human necessity.”

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Dubai remains in the top 10 cities on the Global Financial Centres Index, coming ninth in the biannual report’s latest findings in September. The index, which Prof Mainelli helps co-writes, had shown no “great loss of faith in Dubai”.

The Iran war has led to airspace restrictions, while some flights to the UAE remain suspended. The UK's national carrier British Airways resumed flights to Dubai last week, after an eight-month suspension.

In a speech at the Arab Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Prof Mainelli said the Gulf should not be defined by crisis moments.

“We should acknowledge that tragedy without allowing us to define the region's future. The hope must be for restraint, diplomacy and durable peace, in which people can rebuild their lives and businesses can once again plan their confidence,” he said, speaking at an event about the Dubai Airport Free Zone.

London faces its own questions about building a third runway that would expand capacity at Heathrow Airport.

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