Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Dubai Airports, the operator of the world’s leading international airport, has been recognised with the 2025 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award (GEWA) for its approach to employee engagement. The award highlights organisations that foster some of the most engaged workplace cultures globally.

In a fast-changing work environment, Dubai Airports has continued to find new ways to engage and develop its people, setting fresh benchmarks for workplace excellence. Dubai Airports has reached the 75th percentile in employee engagement, placing it among Gallup's best practice companies – a distinction achieved only by organisations that prioritise engagement as a core part of their business strategy.

“Congratulations to this year’s Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winners for setting the standard for a thriving workplace. Your commitment to creating an environment where employees feel valued, heard and empowered to do their best work is truly remarkable. By prioritising both people and performance, you are shaping the future of work and proving that exceptional workplaces drive real results,” said Jon Clifton, Gallup’s chief executive officer.

Meshari Al Bannai, Chief People Officer at Dubai Airports, said: “Engaged people drive success. This award reflects our ongoing efforts to create a workplace that empowers, supports, and inspires our teams to perform at their best. By focusing on wellbeing, growth, and collaboration, we are shaping a dynamic culture where every individual can contribute meaningfully to the future of aviation.”

Gallup’s research on team engagement and performance is the most comprehensive workplace study ever conducted, covering more than 3.3 million employees across 347 organisations, 53 industries, and 90 countries. Highly engaged organisations see stronger performance across key areas, including customer experience, profitability, productivity, employee retention, safety, absenteeism, and overall workplace wellbeing.

About Dubai Airports

  • Dubai Airports operates both of Dubai’s airports, Dubai International (DXB) and Al Maktoum International (DWC).
  • As an integrator, Dubai Airports works to balance the interests of all stakeholders to maintain aviation growth, protect operational resilience and ensure that service providers collaborate to provide a safe and secure service and improve customer experience whilst maintaining a sustainable business.
  • In 2024, DXB welcomed a total of 92.3 million guests, the highest annual traffic in its history.
  • DXB is ranked as the world’s number one airport by international passenger numbers for 2023, as announced by the Airports Council International (ACI).
  • DWC embodies Dubai's vision for the future of aviation. With expansion plans announced in May 2024, involving a record investment of US$35b, DWC aims to reshape the aviation landscape.
  • Over the next decade, DWC will accommodate 150m passengers annually, eventually expanding to 260m passengers and 12m tonnes of cargo.
  • With five runways, futuristic design and seamless intermodal connectivity, DWC aims to revolutionise global air travel, setting new standards for efficiency and passenger experience for the next 50 years.
  • High-resolution images of DXB are available here: Media Library

About Gallup

Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organisations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviours of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organisation in the world