Dubai airports use Tableau to identify new revenue streams and maintain “clockwork operations”

Dubai Airports uses Tableau to replace manual reporting, find new routes and airline partners, and keep a round-the-clock operation running smoothly. According to Mohammed Farhaz, Senior Manager of Aviation Business Analytics, the shift to automated, visual analytics saves hundreds of person-hours a month and lets teams answer their own questions.

Key takeaways

• Dubai Airports includes Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC) and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Manual Excel reporting was replaced by dashboards fed from SQL Server databases and prepared in Alteryx.
• Monthly IATA ticketing data in a Tableau dashboard helps the Business Development team build airline proposals in hours instead of days.
• More than 13 teams use Tableau, including Finance, Capacity Planning, Operations and Engineering Services.
• Analytics also supports weather disruption planning and decisions about reopening facilities during COVID-19.

Who is Dubai Airports and why does precision matter?

Dubai Airports describes itself as the gateway between East and West and the world’s busiest airport by international passenger volume. The group covers Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC) and serves millions of customers each year. Because it never closes, keeping flights and operations running with clockwork precision is central to its success and growth.

What role does data and analytics play at Dubai Airports?

Airport operations involve many systems and services that must work together. The better they do, the better the customer experience. Data and analytics help the airports understand and refine these systems, from check-in queue times and shop locations to the punctuality of arrivals and departures.

Analytics also tracks trends in commercial aviation and helps identify routes and destinations that customers would like served, which supports expanding the network and the service offering.

What data challenges existed before Tableau?

Most data processes could not be automated. Staff repeated the same tasks daily, weekly or monthly. To give senior management the latest traffic figures, for instance, analysts typed data into Excel and rebuilt the same report every week.

It was also hard to spot important insights buried in spreadsheets of flight and traffic data, so opportunities to improve operations could be overlooked.

How did moving to Tableau solve these problems?

Most manual processes are now automated, saving hundreds of person-hours a month. Data is staged in SQL Server databases, prepared in Alteryx and connected directly to Tableau, where it refreshes at the click of a button. Once a dashboard is built, it does not need manual updating.

Employees can open dashboards whenever they want and answer their own analytics questions, which was not possible before. More than 13 teams work this way, including Finance, Capacity Planning, Operations, Engineering Services and Investment Planning.

The emphasis on visual analytics, especially mapping, makes trends easier to see, such as new destinations that are growing quickly in popularity. Built-in geocoding and interactive maps make geospatial analysis available without specialized software, so users can see where something is happening as well as why.

How does Tableau help create new revenue streams?

The Business Development team aims to bring new airlines and activity to the airport. That requires a business case showing that passenger needs are going unmet. For example, the team found large flows of passengers who were flying to Dubai indirectly through other hubs, which pointed to market opportunities for passengers who were previously unserved.

Finding such insights once took a great deal of number crunching. Now the team explores an automated Tableau dashboard that is updated monthly with ticketing information from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) database. A global heatmap shows the latest trends. According to Farhaz, this evidence lets the team prepare airline proposals in hours, where it previously took days of manual analysis.

How does Tableau support day-to-day operations?

Many airports have an offline or curfew period, but Dubai’s airports do not, so scheduling must run smoothly around the clock. Bad weather is one of the biggest threats and can cause major disruption quickly.

When the meteorology department issues a weather warning, the team analyzes the planned schedule for the affected period and identifies airlines operating multiple flights to or from the same destination in that window. It then works with those airlines to reschedule or cancel flights early and consolidate demand onto fewer flights. This limits the disruption while maintaining connectivity and customer service standards.

How is analytics used to manage the impact of COVID-19?

At the time of the interview in late 2020, the aviation industry had faced about six months of severe disruption, with travel and tourism hit particularly hard. Like many others, Dubai Airports focused on managing expenses, closing facilities where necessary to save operating costs. Tableau helps monitor the market recovery and informs decisions on reopening facilities as passenger confidence returns.

At a glance

• Data stack: SQL Server databases for staging, Alteryx for preparation, Tableau for dashboards.
• External data source: Monthly ticketing information from the IATA database.
• Main use cases: New routes and airline partnerships, weather disruption planning, cost control and facility reopening decisions.

Frequently asked questions

What does Dubai Airports use Tableau for?

It uses Tableau to explore flight and ticketing data, find new route opportunities, plan around weather disruption, and track market recovery after COVID-19.

Which tools are used alongside Tableau?

Data is staged in SQL Server databases and prepared in Alteryx before it is connected to Tableau.

How are new airline routes identified?

The Business Development team explores IATA ticketing data on a global heatmap and looks for unmet passenger demand, such as travelers flying indirectly through other hubs.

Who uses the dashboards?

More than 13 teams, including Finance, Capacity Planning, Operations, Engineering Services and Investment Planning.

Conclusion

Dubai Airports moved from repetitive manual reporting to automated, visual analytics. The result, as described by its analytics lead, is faster airline proposals, better weather planning and self-service access to data across many teams. The same tools now support recovery decisions as air travel returns.