DAFZA company setup (Dubai Airport Free Zone)

A DAFZA base license — covering one industry category with three activities — costs approximately AED 15,000 per year, while a general trading license runs around AED 50,000. Add one-time FZCO registration (~AED 7,000), the establishment card (~AED 2,020) and a mandatory facility from a smart desk upward, and a realistic smart-desk first year with one visa lands around AED 38,000–48,000. Office-based setups scale with space at roughly AED 1,850–1,950 per sqm plus service charge. Stevva quotes the exact current fees for your structure.

Dubai Airport Free Zone, established in 1996 directly beside Dubai International Airport (DXB), is the UAE's jurisdiction of choice for businesses whose goods move by air: aviation parts and services, pharmaceuticals, electronics, jewellery and time-critical trade. It offers 24/7 cargo clearance, on-site customs, single-window government services and a metro-connected campus that reads as an institutional address to banks and multinationals.

Yes — DAFZA is on the UAE Cabinet's designated-zone list, like JAFZA and unlike DMCC, IFZA or Shams. Qualifying supplies and movements of goods within DAFZA and between designated zones can be treated as outside the scope of UAE VAT, subject to conditions on the goods' use and movement. Services and non-qualifying supplies follow normal VAT rules, and goods entering the mainland attract import VAT. The conditions are strict, so flows need structuring and documenting correctly — that's part of our setup scope.

DAFZA licenses the aviation supply chain more comprehensively than any other UAE free zone: aircraft component and spare-parts trading, MRO support services, aviation fuel and lubricants trading, and aircraft leasing and asset management. For companies whose customers are airlines, MRO facilities or ground handlers, DAFZA pairs the right activity codes with the one address in Dubai that sits beside the airport itself.

DAFZA companies can obtain a dual license with Dubai's Department of Economy & Tourism, permitting onshore Dubai operations without leasing a separate mainland office. It suits businesses that are primarily international but need a legitimate onshore arm — local invoicing, government clients, mainland distribution. Eligibility and conditions vary by activity, and the tax treatment of mainland income differs from qualifying free zone income, so we scope the dual license against a full mainland setup before you commit.

Yes. Every DAFZA license requires a facility in the zone — from a smart desk (the minimum, indicatively AED 10,000–20,000 per year) to fitted offices priced per square metre and light-industrial units in DAFZA Industrial Park. There is no virtual-only route, and your facility determines your visa quota.

Your quota follows your facility and package: smart desks carry small allocations for founders and lean teams, while offices and industrial units scale with size. Each residence visa costs approximately AED 3,950 end to end (entry permit, medical, Emirates ID, stamping) plus health insurance, dependents can be sponsored once income thresholds are met, and the 180-day entry rule applies.

The license typically issues within 5–10 business days of complete documents and security clearance, and most of the process can run remotely. A fully operational company — facility handed over, customs live, visas stamped and bank account open — realistically takes 4–7 weeks, with banking as the usual slowest step.

Yes — DAFZA requires audited financial statements in connection with license renewal. Budget roughly AED 5,000–15,000 per year depending on activity and volume; trading businesses with inventory sit at the upper end. Stevva's accounting and audit teams keep your books audit-ready year-round and handle the filing so renewal never stalls.

Directly, a DAFZA company faces the usual free zone limits — mainland sales of goods generally run through a distributor, with duty and import VAT on entry. DAFZA's dual-license route with Dubai DED softens this more than most zones by permitting onshore operations without a second office, subject to conditions. If your revenue is overwhelmingly onshore, a mainland license is still usually the cleaner structure — we'll tell you honestly which fits.

Every DAFZA company must register for UAE corporate tax and file annual returns. Free zone companies can access the 0% rate on qualifying income as a Qualifying Free Zone Person — and DAFZA traders are often well placed, since trading in goods from a designated zone is treated favourably under the QFZP rules, subject to substance and de-minimis conditions. Otherwise the standard 9% applies above AED 375,000 of taxable income, and dual-license mainland income has its own treatment. We assess this as part of setup.

Air versus sea. DAFZA sits beside DXB and suits high-value, time-sensitive goods that fly — aviation parts, pharma, electronics, jewellery — with premium offices and light-logistics space. JAFZA sits beside Jebel Ali Port and suits container volumes, big-box warehousing and manufacturing on plots. Both are VAT designated zones, so the tax logic is similar; the freight mode and facility needs decide it. We quote both side by side on request.

If you're a service business or lean SME with no cargo, IFZA delivers a Dubai license at roughly a third of DAFZA's realistic first-year cost — the airport premium buys you nothing. If goods move through your P&L by air, or your clients are airlines and multinationals who weigh the address, DAFZA earns its price. The honest test: does your business plan involve freight or aviation? If not, take IFZA.

A new company incorporates as an FZCO (free zone company), and existing UAE or foreign companies can register a branch. Share capital requirements vary by form and are confirmed at application — figures circulating online range widely and several are outdated, so treat any single number with caution until DAFZA confirms it for your structure.

Most of the process — application, KYC, document signing — can run remotely, and DAFZA's portal handles post-setup administration online. Physical presence is needed for each visa holder's medical and Emirates ID biometrics, and usually for bank account opening. We sequence the steps so one trip covers everything.

Aviation and aerospace services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, electronics and mobile accessories, jewellery and precious goods, logistics and freight services, IT and regional headquarters of multinationals. The cluster effect is real: suppliers, customers and specialist service providers for these sectors already operate inside the zone.