Jebel Ali, Dubai South and Al Maktoum
The first part of Dubai you reach: about 90 km from Zayed International, usually a little over an hour.
Route · DXB · DWC · Abu Dhabi · AUH
Dubai airport to Abu Dhabi, or Zayed International (AUH) into Dubai, with a named chauffeur, your flight tracked and a full quote before you pay.
Nothing is charged until you accept the quote.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) Zayed International Airport (AUH)
At a glance
Land in Dubai and travel straight on to Abu Dhabi, or land at Zayed International and come the other way into Dubai. It is the same E11 either way, anywhere from about 90 to 155 kilometres depending on the two ends. Universal Airport Transfer arranges the whole run as one pre-booked journey with a named chauffeur, your flight tracked, and a full quote before you pay anything.
Price
Every journey is quoted on its own rather than sold from a price list, so the figure you receive is for your booking. These are the things that move it. Nothing is charged until you accept the quote. Tolls, where they apply, are either included in it or shown in it as an additional charge, and heavy traffic does not change the quoted price.
The journey
From the wheels touching down in Dubai to the car stopping outside your Abu Dhabi address, this is the whole run. Coming the other way, from Zayed International into Dubai? That follows further down.
Your flight is tracked and a chauffeur is assigned to your booking, timed to your flight’s actual arrival. If the flight is delayed, the pickup moves with it.
Your chauffeur is named before pickup, and the booking desk tells you where to meet. Waiting is 30 minutes from your flight’s actual arrival time, and passport control and the baggage belt count towards it.
From Dubai International the car crosses the city to the E11. Inside Dubai the E11 is Sheikh Zayed Road; past the emirate boundary it becomes Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Road, and it is a wide, well-signposted highway for almost all of the way.
Roughly 130 kilometres to Yas Island and the airport side of Abu Dhabi, and a little over 150 to the Corniche. Allow ninety minutes to an hour and three-quarters, and closer to two hours if you leave in the morning or evening peak.
The car stops at the address on the booking. The quote covers the journey you requested, and waiting beyond the included time may add a charge.
Abu Dhabi is large and its island, the airport and the mainland suburbs are a long way apart. Give us the full address when you request the quote, not just the city, so the journey is priced for where you are actually going.
The other direction
Landing at Zayed International and staying in Dubai is the same E11 run the other way round, and on this side the question is which end of Dubai you are going to. The airport sits east of Abu Dhabi city, so the drive is shorter than one from the island: roughly 90 km to the Jebel Ali end of Dubai and 130 km to Deira.
The first part of Dubai you reach: about 90 km from Zayed International, usually a little over an hour.
About 95 km to the Marina and JBR and a little more to the Palm, usually an hour to an hour and a quarter in ordinary traffic.
About 115 km, usually around an hour and a quarter, with Sheikh Zayed Road’s toll gates on the way in and slower going at peak.
The far side of the city at about 125 to 130 km. Allow an hour and a half or more, particularly in the evening peak.
Landed at AUH and flying on from DXB on a separate ticket? Book it as a terminal to terminal transfer with both flight numbers, and leave room for checking in again at the far end.
DXB
Starting at Dubai International? Send your flight number with the request: the flight is tracked, and your chauffeur’s 30 minutes of waiting runs from your flight’s actual arrival time, not from the time on the schedule. From DXB the car crosses Dubai before it reaches the open E11, which makes it the longer of the two Dubai starts.
More about transfers at Dubai International Airport
Get a DXB quoteDWC
Landing at Al Maktoum International (DWC)? It lies south-west of Dubai, on the Abu Dhabi side of the city, so the drive to central Abu Dhabi is nearer 120 km than the 150 or so from DXB. It is quoted the same way, with a full quote before you pay.
Get a DWC quoteAUH
Flying into Zayed International and staying in Dubai? That is this run in the other direction, booked the same way, with your flight tracked and the E11 taking you north-east into Dubai. If you are flying home from AUH instead, the pickup at your Dubai address is timed back from your check-in.
Terminals One passenger terminal, Terminal A, used by every airline since November 2023. Your flight number tells us everything else.
More about transfers at Zayed International Airport
Get an AUH quoteServices
From DXB or DWC straight to your hotel, home or office in Abu Dhabi, booked before you fly.
From Zayed International to your hotel, home or office anywhere in Dubai, with your flight tracked.
From your Abu Dhabi address to DXB or DWC for the flight home, with the pickup timed back from your check-in.
Dubai International or Al Maktoum to Zayed International, or the other way, booked as a terminal to terminal transfer for a connection that leaves from the other emirate.
A car and chauffeur for a block of hours once you are there, starting or ending at the airport.
How it works
Your flight, the address at the other end, passengers and bags, using the form below.
Usually within two hours, with any late-night, public holiday or short-notice charges shown. Nothing is charged until you accept it.
By secure payment link or bank transfer. Card details never reach this website.
Confirmed once paid, and the booking desk shares your voucher.
Questions
Usually ninety minutes to an hour and three-quarters for the 130 to 155 kilometres on the E11, depending on where in Abu Dhabi you are going, and around two hours in the morning or evening peak. The 30-minute wait runs from your flight’s actual arrival time, not the timetable, so passport control and the baggage belt fall inside it.
Zayed International is about 90 km from the Jebel Ali end of Dubai, about 95 km from the Marina, about 115 km from Downtown and about 130 km from Dubai International. On the E11 that is usually a little over an hour to the near end and an hour and a half or more to Deira, longer at peak.
By road on the E11. The options include the airport’s own shuttle bus, an airline coach if your airline runs one, and a pre-booked car. The airport’s bus runs every hour, day and night (its published timetable, September 2026), to the Ibn Battuta bus station at the Jebel Ali end of Dubai, timetabled at an hour and a half, with tickets from a counter in the arrivals hall; for one person travelling light to that end of the city it is a reasonable choice. Your airline may run a coach to Dubai for passengers on its own flights, booked in advance through the airline, so check with it. For a door-to-door journey with luggage, a family or a late arrival, a pre-booked private transfer takes you from the terminal to your address.
Yes. It is about 130 km airport to airport, usually around an hour and a half and more at peak, and it is booked as a terminal to terminal transfer: send both flight numbers, because the desk needs your onward departure so the connection window is protected. On separate tickets you pass UAE passport control and collect your bags at AUH, then check in again at DXB, so you need to be able to enter the UAE and should leave generous time.
The journey is quoted individually. You receive a full quote, usually within two hours of your request, with any late-night, public holiday or short-notice charges already included, and nothing is charged until you accept it.
Not for the drive itself. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are two emirates of one country, so once you have entered the UAE at the airport you land at, there is no border and no immigration control between them.
It depends on the route. Where Salik or Darb tolls apply, the quote either includes them or shows them clearly as an additional charge, so you see them before you pay and they are not added after booking.
The pickup moves with it. Your flight is tracked at whichever airport you land, and the 30 minutes of waiting count from your flight’s actual arrival time. If your airline moves you to a different flight, tell the booking desk as soon as you know, by WhatsApp or phone, 24/7.
Yes. Al Maktoum International is quoted on the same terms, and because it sits south-west of Dubai the run to central Abu Dhabi is about 30 km shorter than from DXB.
Waiting time, changes, cancellations and refunds are set out in full in our Terms & Conditions.
Request a transfer
Under five minutes to complete. We come back with a full quote, usually within two hours. Nothing is charged until you accept the quote.