DAFZA company setup

DAFZA opened in 1996 on land right next to Dubai International Airport, by Terminal 2. This location is the whole point. Goods can move between the airport's cargo terminals and the zone without going through UAE local customs. That saves a step, some paperwork and some delays on every shipment.

The zone has offices, warehouses and light industrial space inside a secure area. Most companies here work in freight and logistics, aircraft supplies, medicines and medical devices, electronics and IT hardware, cosmetics, food, and high-value goods such as jewellery.

It is a premium address with premium prices. DAFZA does not try to compete with the low-cost zones. What you pay for is being next to the airport, the customs benefits, and the trust that an airport zone licence brings with banks, insurers and international distributors.

DAFZA suits businesses whose main costs come from moving goods. For example: importers and re-exporters with large volumes, distributors serving the Gulf, South Asia and East Africa, aircraft parts and maintenance (MRO) suppliers, medicine and medical device distributors who need cold storage and good customs access, and traders in goods valuable enough that security and handling really matter.

It does not suit a one-person consultancy looking for the cheapest licence. DAFZA is never the low-cost option, and a service business with no goods gets nothing for the extra money. If that is you, IFZA, Meydan or one of the Sharjah zones will be better, and we will tell you so.

A clear warning about controlled products. Medicines, medical devices, food and cosmetics all need product approvals from the right federal or Dubai authority. These are separate from your trade licence. A DAFZA licence does not replace them. Any firm that says it does is selling you a problem.

DAFZA gives trade, service, industrial and general trading licences. A company can be set up as a free zone establishment, a free zone company or a branch. DAFZA also offers a dual licence with Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism. This lets a DAFZA company also work on the mainland, without setting up a second company.

This dual licence is why many distributors choose DAFZA over a cheaper zone. One company can sell abroad and also sell to customers inside the UAE. It needs approval and has conditions, so discuss it before you set up the company, not after.

In most cases, office space comes with the licence, plus a warehouse if your business needs one. The number of visas you get is linked to the size of your space. This is different from zones where the visas come with the package, whatever your space.

It means we apply to DAFZA directly, and our advice is honest. We work with zones in six emirates. So we have no reason to push a small consultancy into an expensive airport zone. And we have no reason to squeeze a cold-storage distributor into a licence that does not cover its work.

For DAFZA, the important work happens before we apply. We make sure the activity list matches what you actually import. We check if the dual licence applies to you. And we are clear about which product approvals are outside the licence. This decides whether an application succeeds, and it is why we ask many questions before we give you a price.

We do not show a price on this page. Almas has a confirmed starting price for free zone company setup, shown across this site. But that price is based on the lower-cost zones, and it would be misleading next to DAFZA. Here the licence, the space and the visas are priced together, based on what you need.

So we give you a written price for your case, once we know what you are moving and how much space you need. It takes longer than a quick number, but it is the only honest answer.

This is the comparison that really matters, and it depends on which airport your cargo uses. DAFZA is next to Dubai International, which handles most cargo carried on passenger planes and express cargo. It is close to old Dubai and the Deira trading areas. Dubai South is around Al Maktoum International, on the Jebel Ali side near the port. It has much more space and a logistics area built for large volumes.

Express, high-value, urgent and smaller air shipments usually point to DAFZA. Sea-and-air shipments, bulk goods, e-commerce fulfilment and anything that needs a lot of space usually point to Dubai South. If you need both, tell us early. The setup for both is different from the setup for either one.