Key Takeaways
- DAFZ is overseen by the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), which also runs Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity (DIEZ site, as of October 2026).
- There's no general licence tariff online. You'll need a written fee sheet from DAFZ for your activity and your office.
- Minimum capital and the rules for managers come from the DIEZA Implementing Regulations 2023. The zone can confirm the figures that apply today.
- How many visas you get depends on your office or lease. Request the visa table for the unit you're considering.
- DAFZ is on the Federal Tax Authority's current list of VAT Designated Zones. That alone doesn't settle how VAT applies, and the Corporate Tax test is a different one.
Most people comparing free zones start with the price. That doesn't work for company formation in Dubai Airport Free Zone, because the zone doesn't publish one. What you can check from the start are the rules. Who oversees the zone, which kinds of company it allows, who may act as manager and how VAT treats it are all on public record, and you can look into each of them before you ask anyone for a quote.
What DAFZ is and how DIEZ regulates it
DAFZ, short for Dubai Airport Freezone, is right next to Dubai International Airport. Like every free zone, it's an area with its own authority that licenses companies under its own rules. Its official site is dafz.ae, and older material still calls it DAFZA. It belongs to the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), which also runs Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity (DIEZ site, as of October 2026).
The change came with Dubai Law 16 of 2021. DAFZ moved under DIEZ from 1 January 2022, and the older law that set up DAFZ was repealed.
Before you go further, get DAFZ's current list of licence types, including whether there's one for freelancers. If there is, find out the current fee, whether a visa comes with it and how the visa process works. You'll need those answers before you can weigh it against a company licence.
Company formation in Dubai Airport Free Zone, forms and capital
The company forms and capital rules for DAFZ and the other DIEZ zones are in the DIEZA Implementing Regulations 2023. Capital here means the money the owners put into the company. A DAFZ free zone company (FZCO) needs at least AED 1. A public limited company (PLC), the form used for larger companies, needs AED 250,000. A branch of an existing company needs no capital at all.
You won't see the FZE label in DIEZ zones any more. Companies that were set up as FZEs are now treated as FZCOs (Regulation 8.2). If a provider still offers you an FZE at DAFZ, find out where that comes from. Labels across all the zones are explained in the guide to free zone companies in Dubai.
Check the current text with DAFZ before you rely on these numbers. The regulations carry the year 2023 in their title and took effect on the day they were issued (Regulation 5).
Manager residency rule for non-resident owners
The manager of a DAFZ company has to be a natural person, in other words an individual and not another company, who lives in the UAE (DIEZA Implementing Regulations 2023, Regulation 48.3). This hits hardest if you live abroad and planned to run the company from there.
There are two possible ways to meet the rule, and DAFZ can tell you which it accepts in your case. You can appoint a manager who lives in the UAE through the memorandum of association (MoA), the founding contract between the owners. Or you can get a UAE residence visa yourself. Whichever you choose decides who signs for the company and who receives letters from the authorities.
An adviser who regularly works with DIEZ zones can check how the appointment has to be documented. It's better to have that sorted out before the licence fee is paid.
Pricing without a published tariff
DAFZ doesn't publish a general tariff. The prices you find online belong to individual partner packages. One package is not a price list for the whole zone.
A fee sheet from DAFZ is what lets you compare a partner's quote with the zone's own charges. Anything missing from it is a cost you'll meet later. It should show:
- the licence fee for your licence type and number of activities;
- registration, establishment and amendment fees;
- the office or lease you'd take, with the visa allowance attached to it;
- the renewal fee and what happens if you renew late;
- the dual licence fee, if you plan to work across Dubai.
The sheet should also say which items the April 2026 relief measures cover. Then go through any partner quote against it, one item at a time.
Trading fit, visa allowance and the bank file
Fit is the first thing to test if you trade goods or run an air-cargo business. The zone is beside Dubai International Airport, and the question to settle early is which of its licence types matches your trading activity.
Visa numbers depend on your office. Zones commonly tie the allowance to the size of the office or lease. Get the current table that applies to the space you're looking at, along with the fee for raising the allowance later.
A trading company should also plan its bank application around the wording of its licensed activity. Banks read that wording closely. Agree the exact wording before the licence is issued.
The Central Bank's customer due diligence guidance is listed as in force from 7 November 2025. It tells banks to verify their customers and each beneficial owner, meaning the real person who in the end owns or controls the company. The current text is in the Central Bank rulebook.
Mainland access and the VAT designated zone point
The mainland is anywhere in Dubai outside a free zone. A DAFZ company can serve customers there through one of the options Dubai allows. One of these has been a dual licence, a mainland branch that a free zone company runs from its free zone office. Find out whether DAFZ still offers it. Every option needs the free zone's approval first (Resolution 11 of 2025, Articles 5 to 7). Confirm the conditions with DAFZ and with the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly DED), Dubai's mainland licensing office.
Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 adds three formal options. You can open a mainland branch, open a branch operating out of the free zone, or get a permit lasting up to six months. Article 12 sets AED 10,000 a year for the branch operating out of the free zone and AED 5,000 for the permit, as of October 2026.
VAT has its own test. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) keeps a list of Designated Zones under Cabinet Decision 59 of 2017 as amended, and Dubai Airport Free Zone is on it. Being on the list isn't enough. The area also has to be fenced, with security and customs controls, and meet the conditions in Article 51 of the VAT Executive Regulation.
A place on the VAT list doesn't make a zone a Designated Zone for Corporate Tax (Cabinet Decision 100 of 2023, Article 1). The two lists are separate. The Corporate Tax one matters because distributing goods in or from a Corporate Tax Designated Zone counts as a qualifying activity for the 0% rate (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025).
Corporate Tax, audit and the next steps
The 0% rate belongs to a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP), a free zone company that meets the conditions for that rate, and it applies only to qualifying income. A company in that position needs audited financial statements. It also has to register for Corporate Tax within three months of incorporation (FTA Decision 3 of 2024).
FTA Decision 6 of 2026 adds a further duty for tax periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. A QFZP that distributes goods in or from a Designated Zone needs an agreed-upon-procedures report from its auditor. In that kind of report, the auditor works through a set list of checks and reports what was found. Registering late costs an AED 10,000 penalty (Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023 as amended), as of October 2026.
A corporate tax consultant can test both points on your own invoices. To see how a DAFZ licence compares with a mainland one, read the guide to mainland versus free zone. If you sell online, there's a separate guide to the e-commerce licence in the UAE.
April 2026 relief measures
On 9 April 2026 DIEZ announced support measures for companies in DAFZ, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity. It pointed to the current regional situation (Dubai Media Office, 9 April 2026). Rent was frozen on renewals. Some administrative fees were waived, among them the penalties for late licence renewal, until conditions settle.
Tenants were offered monthly rent instalments, with no instalment fees. Fees for changing shareholders or activities were put off for three months. Fees for restructuring and for authorised capital were waived.
Ask DAFZ whether each measure still applies on the day you apply, and have the answer included in your quote. Some other Dubai zones do publish prices, and you can compare them in the profiles of Meydan, Jafza and IFZA. The rest are in our overview of free zones in the UAE.
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