Between UAE airports, timed to flight two.

Two tickets, one drive

Some trips do not start and end at the same airport. You land at Dubai International, spend a few days in the city, and fly home from Zayed International in Abu Dhabi because the fare or the connection is better. Or you land in Abu Dhabi for a conference and leave from Dubai. Sometimes the two flights sit on separate tickets with only a few hours between them.

This page is about the drive between the airports and the clock around it. It is not a hotel transfer. If you are sleeping in Abu Dhabi after you land, read DXB to Abu Dhabi hotels by private transfer. If you are doing a day of meetings and coming back, the same-day Dubai to Abu Dhabi trip page fits better.

One thing first. We do not promise a connection. A private vehicle removes the taxi queue and the second guess about the road, but it cannot hold a flight or clear an immigration hall. If the gap between two flights is too thin, we say so in the quote and suggest a different plan.

How to work back from the second flight

Start at the departure time and subtract, step by step. Write each number down before you book.

Our AUH route page gives a starting point: a pick-up about four and a half hours before departure from Downtown Dubai. That covers roughly 80 minutes on the road, a traffic margin and the three hours most airlines recommend. It is a rule of thumb for a trip from a hotel, not for a trip that starts at another airport.

Example, not a quote: your first flight lands at DXB Terminal 3 at 06:10. Allow 30 to 60 minutes to walk out of customs, so you are in the hall between 06:40 and 07:10. The drive from the DXB area is around 1 hour 30 minutes, and a weekday morning can add half an hour. You reach AUH between about 08:10 and 09:10. If the second flight leaves at 14:00, the airline’s three hours put you at the desk at 11:00, and you hold close to two hours of room. If it leaves at 12:00, the desk time is 09:00 and you hold none. That is the sort of gap we flag before you pay for anything.

The drive, by starting point

Distance depends on where you start, roughly 100 to 140 km. These are the times we plan with outside the rush hours. They are planning figures, not promises.

We have no separate figure printed for a run that starts inside a DXB terminal, so we use the Deira and DXB area row as the closest one. If your plan depends on the exact minutes, tell us and we confirm the time in your written quote.

Weekday mornings and late afternoons on Sheikh Zayed Road can add half an hour or more. Most of the journey is the E11. When it is slow around Jebel Ali, the driver can switch to the E311, which runs parallel further inland. Our Dubai to Abu Dhabi Airport page has the full route.

Landing at DXB: the time before the car moves

The clock does not start when the wheels touch down. Allow 30 to 60 minutes from landing to walking out of customs, longer in the busiest waves of the night. Smart gates at immigration are often much faster for those who can use them. First-time visitors and children use the staffed desks.

Check the terminal on your ticket. Terminal 2 sits across the airfield, around 15 to 20 minutes by road from Terminals 1 and 3, and some flydubai flights use Terminal 3. Pre-booked cars generally cannot wait at the arrivals kerb, so the vehicle is a short walk away in the car park. Our guide to meeting your driver at DXB covers each hall.

A group of 30 or more should allow 60 to 90 minutes from landing to the vehicle, as the guide to big group arrival at DXB explains. Because we track the flight, an early or late landing moves the pick-up. Airline delays never count against your waiting allowance.

The other way: land at AUH, fly from DXB

The same logic runs in reverse. Your driver waits in the arrivals hall at Terminal A with a name board and drives you to the Dubai terminal named on your ticket. We have no printed drive time from AUH to DXB itself. We do print AUH to Dubai Marina at around 1 hour and AUH to Downtown at around 1 hour 20 minutes. Tell us the terminal and we confirm the time in your written quote.

Check the Dubai terminal carefully on this leg. Three terminals, one of them far from the others, is an easy way to lose half an hour at the last minute. If you land at Al Maktoum (DWC) instead of DXB, read the Al Maktoum airport transfers page. DWC to Abu Dhabi city is around 1 hour 15 minutes.

Tolls and what goes on the quote

You may pass Salik gates leaving Dubai. Darb, Abu Dhabi’s toll system, charges at gates on the bridges onto Abu Dhabi island. Zayed International sits on the mainland, so most airport runs never cross those bridges. Whatever applies to your route is listed on your written quote before you confirm. The Salik and Darb guide explains both systems.

An intercity run is quoted for your date, route and waiting, not taken from a day rate. Ask for a fixed written quote. It lists the vehicle, the tolls, any airport parking and the waiting allowance.

Choose the vehicle on seats or bags

Whichever runs out first sets the size. Bags are medium suitcases.

Larger groups use the 30-seater mini coach or the 50-seater coach. Child seats are free on request in our cars, SUVs and vans. Tell us each child’s age. For a single traveller or a couple, the airport chauffeur page shows the car side.

What to send us

• Both flights: number, airline, terminal if you know it, and the local time of each.
• Whether the flights share one ticket or sit on separate tickets. We cannot tell you what an airline will do if you miss a connection, so ask the airlines and read their rules.
• Where you start, hotel name or terminal, and the number of people and bags.
• A mobile number that works in the UAE for the person travelling.

Send it through the booking page. A fixed written quote usually comes back within the hour, and nothing is charged until you accept.

Related: Dubai to Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH) · DXB to Abu Dhabi hotels by private transfer · Abu Dhabi & Intercity · Dubai airport transfer for groups · Meeting your driver at DXB · Salik and Darb tolls explained · Dubai to Abu Dhabi taxi cost · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Dubai to Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH): From any Dubai address to Zayed International, timed back from your flight and quoted in writing.
• DXB to Abu Dhabi hotels by private transfer: Landing at Dubai International but sleeping in Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat or Yas: how one private vehicle takes you from arrivals to the hotel lobby.
• Same-day Abu Dhabi business trip: Meetings in Abu Dhabi and back in Dubai by evening: how to time the day, what to ask of the driver, and why a car with a driver beats a rental for this trip.
• Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2026 from Dubai: Getting a group from Dubai to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit in December 2026: the dates, the drive, the exit problem and a plan with a private vehicle.
• Dubai to Abu Dhabi taxi cost: Metered taxi, Uber or Careem, the intercity bus or a private car: what each costs and when it makes sense.
• Abu Dhabi GP for US, UK and Australian fans: The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for fans from the USA, UK and Australia staying in Dubai: the race start in home time, the four days, a plan from a Dubai base and a pre-flight checklist.