Dubai is the major international air hub for the UAE, with additional international airports at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah and Al-Ain. The UAE has two national airlines: Emirates and Etihad. Many other national airlines operate scheduled services to Dubai, and there are frequent scheduled flights from Dubai to many major cities in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Australasia and Africa. Approximate flight times to Dubai or Abu Dhabi are seven hours from London, thirteen hours from New York and around fifteen hours from Sydney

There are excellent highways into the UAE from Saudi Arabia, to the south, and Oman, to the east, with regular public bus services operating on these routes. The main highway via Saudi Arabia connects with the Trans-Arabian Highway, the main overland route to Europe.

There are regular scheduled passenger ferry services between the UAE's ports and the USA, Asia, Australia Europe and Iran. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also stopping-off points for many cruise liners from Europe and the U.S.