New Year's Eve in Dubai: chauffeur and transport

New Year’s Eve in Dubai at a glance

New Year’s Eve falls on Thursday 31 December 2026. Emaar runs the main show at Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai. Its official site, mydubainewyear.emaar.com, still showed the last edition when we checked on 17 October 2026.

The table below is the last edition’s published plan. We update this page when Emaar and the RTA publish the 2026 arrangements.

What	Last edition, 31 December 2025
Main venue	Downtown Dubai: Burj Khalifa, Burj Park (ticketed), Dubai Mall and free public viewing areas
Burj Park gates	Open at 12 noon
Celebrations	From 5 pm in Downtown Dubai
Road closures	From 4 pm, widening until 11 pm
Dubai Metro	Red and Green Lines non-stop for 43 hours from 5 am on 31 December
Fireworks across Dubai	48 shows at 40 locations
Who announces what	Emaar for Downtown entry; Dubai’s Event Security Committee, with Dubai Police and the RTA, for roads and transport
Last checked	17 October 2026

The road plan comes out late. It was published on 24 December in 2024 and on 26 December in 2025.

How do you get to New Year’s Eve in Dubai?

By car, you must arrive before the roads close. Emaar’s event guide says no vehicles are allowed in once the closures start. Taxis run only until then, typically 4 pm.

Some roads shut earlier. Emaar’s FAQ says Lower Financial Centre Road usually closes around 3 pm. It tells Downtown residents to arrive by 2 pm, and that is a sensible drop-off target for your chauffeur too.

The other way in is the Dubai Metro to Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station on the Red Line. Emaar says the station should run but may close when crowds build. Your chauffeur can drop you at a station further along the line, so you skip the Downtown roads entirely.

Where is the drop-off for New Year’s Eve in Dubai?

Before the closures, your chauffeur drops you at your hotel, your restaurant or near the gate for your viewing area. Emaar listed 7 access gates for the last edition.

• Boulevard Heights
• Burj Vista
• Emaar Square
• Former Address Boulevard
• Fountain Views
• Address Downtown
• Vida Dubai Mall

You enter only through your designated gate, and each viewing area closes when it is full.

After 4 pm, Burj Park ticket holders used shuttle lots outside Downtown: Al Wasl Club and Al Meydan (Falcon Heritage and Sports Centre). Shuttles ran from 4 pm, and the last one into Downtown left at 11 pm. They stopped at 5 points in Downtown, including Address Downtown, Boulevard Central and Dubai Opera. You needed your badge to board, and return shuttles from Downtown started at 12:30 am.

So a late drop-off is still possible with a badge. Your chauffeur takes you to Al Wasl Club or Al Meydan and collects you there after the show.

Burj Park badges were collected in person at Dubai Mall or Dubai Hills Mall between 26 and 30 December, with no collection on 31 December. Add that errand to your booking if your days are busy.

Is there parking at New Year’s Eve in Dubai?

Yes, first come, first served. For the last edition, Emaar’s Downtown event guide listed Fashion Parking, Grand Parking, Cinema Parking, Zabeel Parking and the Boulevard underground levels P1 to P3. Restaurant guests could use Fountain Views, Emaar Square, Boulevard Plaza and Souk Al Bahar parking.

Dubai’s Event Security Committee put the total at about 20,000 spaces in the Burj Khalifa area, plus about 8,000 at Metro stations. Extra parking was set up at Al Wasl Club and Al Kifaf.

Leaving is the slow part. Emaar’s FAQ says cars could exit the Dubai Mall car parks between 1 am and 2 am, depending on the authorities. With a chauffeur, nobody in your group has to find a space before 4 pm, drive after the party or wait for the exits to open. The car waits outside the closed roads instead.

Which roads close on New Year’s Eve in Dubai?

Dubai’s Event Security Committee publishes the plan each year, with the RTA’s road closures and the Dubai Police deployment. On 31 December 2025, closures started at 4 pm and widened until 11 pm. These were the roads named.

• Al Asayel Street
• Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard
• Burj Khalifa Street
• Lower and Upper Financial Centre Roads
• Al Mustaqbal Street
• Al Sukook Street
• Sheikh Zayed Road

The 2024 plan showed the order. Al Asayel Street, the Boulevard, Burj Khalifa Street, Al Mustaqbal Street and Lower Financial Centre Road closed from 4 pm. Upper Financial Centre Road and Al Sukook Street followed at 8 pm. Our guide to road closures for Dubai events covers the other big closure days of the year.

For the last edition, the Red and Green Lines ran from 5 am on 31 December to 11:59 pm on 1 January. Dubai Tram ran from 6 am on 31 December to 1 am on 2 January. Public parking was free on 1 January, except multi-storey car parks and Al Khail Gate N-365.

Getting picked up after midnight

Your chauffeur cannot drive into Downtown at midnight. Agree the pickup point before you leave the car, and choose one outside the closed roads.

• the Al Wasl Club or Al Meydan shuttle lot, if you hold a Burj Park badge
• a Metro station a few stops from Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, using the all-night service
• your hotel, if it sits outside the closure zone

Book the car by the hour, so the driver waits through the countdown. Our hourly car with driver covers this. Share your live location on WhatsApp once you start walking out.

For the last New Year’s Eve, the RTA counted more than 2.8 million passengers across the Metro, buses, taxis and ride-hailing, 661,538 of them by taxi. With that many people leaving at once, a fixed meeting point matters more than the car itself.

Drive times to Downtown and other fireworks sites

These are road distances and free-flow times from OSRM, on OpenStreetMap data. They show how far each trip is. On the afternoon of 31 December, traffic near Downtown is much slower, and after the closures start no car gets in.

From	To	Road distance	Free-flow drive
Dubai Marina	Downtown (Burj Khalifa)	21 km	about 20 min
Palm Jumeirah	Downtown (Burj Khalifa)	21 km	about 21 min
DXB	Downtown (Burj Khalifa)	18 km	about 27 min
DXB	Palm Jumeirah	37 km	about 43 min
DXB	Dubai Marina	37 km	about 42 min
Downtown	Expo City Dubai	39 km	about 37 min
Downtown	Hatta	109 km	about 1 h 26 min

Burj Khalifa is one site of many. The 2025 list named Global Village, Bab Al Shams Desert Resort, Atlantis The Royal and Al Marmoom Oasis. It also named Expo City Dubai, Dubai Frame, Emirates Golf Club, Dubai Parks and Resorts and Hatta. They sit away from the Downtown closures, but each sets its own access and parking. Ask us to check yours once the year’s list is out.

Ways to book a car for the night

• Hotel to Downtown before the closures. One drop-off in the early afternoon, plus a return pickup outside the zone.
• Hourly standby. The car stays with you from dinner through the countdown to the ride home.
• Airport plus venue. Your driver waits in the DXB arrivals hall holding your name, then takes you to your hotel ahead of the closures. See airport pickup at Dubai International.
• Groups. Our Mercedes V-Class seats 6 and our Mercedes Sprinter seats 13 or 19. The 22-seat Toyota Coaster and 35- or 50-seat coaches are available through our partner network, subject to availability. See our van and minibus options.
• VIP cars. The Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7 Series take 3 passengers, and the Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon take 6. Stretch limousines are available through our partner network, subject to availability. Details are on our limousine service page.

Landing at DXB on 31 December

DXB is 18 km from Burj Khalifa by road. If your hotel is inside Downtown, an afternoon landing can run into closures that start from as early as 4 pm. Emaar’s guide says no vehicles enter once they begin.

Send us your flight number and hotel before you fly. We check the timing against the published closures and, if it is too tight, suggest a drop-off point outside the zone.

Our New Year’s Eve road closures guide maps the closures, and late-night arrivals in Dubai helps if a flight lands that night. Check UAE public holidays for the days around it.

What sets the price on New Year’s Eve

Every quote is built for your route and sent on WhatsApp. On 31 December these factors move it.

Factor	Why it matters that night
Hours booked	Standby through midnight and the wait for roads to reopen
Vehicle class	Sedan, SUV, van, or a partner stretch limousine or coach
Number of cars	Groups need several vehicles timed to the same closures
Pickup and return points	A shuttle lot, a Metro station or your hotel
Airport leg	A DXB or DWC arrival on 30 or 31 December
Return time	Pickups after 1 am, when the Downtown car parks start to empty

The rest of the year’s shows, races and exhibitions are on our events chauffeur page. A concert at Coca-Cola Arena in City Walk needs a far simpler plan than 31 December.