Green marks a zone where announcements continue. Levels come from each airport’s own policy, cited in Sources.
King Khalid International in Riyadh went quiet on 19 August 2026. Screens, a WhatsApp line and staff replace general announcements across Terminal 5. Boarding and the final call survive at the gate.
The list starts with London City in 2008 and runs to 17 airports. Five call nobody to the gate, eight keep calls inside the gate area, four simply make fewer of them.
| Airport | Quiet since | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Riyadh (RUH)King Khalid International | 2026 | Gate calls only |
| Zurich (ZRH)Zurich | 2025 | Fewer calls |
| Abha (AHB)Abha International | 2024 | Nobody calls you |
| Cebu (CEB)Mactan-Cebu International | 2024 | Fewer calls |
| Kuala Lumpur (KUL)Kuala Lumpur International | 2018 | Fewer calls |
| San Francisco (SFO)San Francisco International | 2018 | Fewer calls |
| Singapore (SIN)Changi | 2018 | Nobody calls you |
| Bengaluru (BLR)Kempegowda International | 2017 | Gate calls only |
| Mumbai (BOM)Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International | 2017 | Gate calls only |
| Delhi (DEL)Indira Gandhi International | 2017 | Gate calls only |
| Hyderabad (HYD)Rajiv Gandhi International | 2017 | Gate calls only |
| Chennai (MAA)Chennai International | 2017 | Gate calls only |
| Helsinki (HEL)Helsinki | 2015 | Gate calls only |
| Dubai (DXB)Dubai International | 2010 | Gate calls only |
| London (LCY)London City | 2008 | Nobody calls you |
| Amsterdam (AMS)Schiphol | Not published | Nobody calls you |
| Copenhagen (CPH)Copenhagen | Not published | Nobody calls you |
Frequently asked questions
Which airports are silent airports?
Seventeen are listed above, from London City in 2008 to Riyadh in August 2026. Nothing calls you to the gate at Abha, Singapore, Amsterdam, London City and Copenhagen. Announcements stay inside the gate area at Riyadh, Dubai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Helsinki. And Kuala Lumpur, Cebu, Zurich and San Francisco have simply cut the number of calls they make.
Will Riyadh still call my flight?
At the gate, yes. Phase one of the Silent Airport project at King Khalid Terminal 5 cut general terminal announcements from 19 August 2026 and kept essential messages at departure gates, boarding and final calls included. Everywhere else in the terminal, the screens are the announcement.
How do I know when to board if nothing is announced?
Read the screens and check the airline app. Copenhagen tells you to move when the screen shows Go to gate. Riyadh adds a WhatsApp line on 920020090, Schiphol has staffed information kiosks, Kuala Lumpur points passengers at the MYairports app, and Helsinki still announces inside the gate area. The safe habit is to be at the gate before the screen tells you to be.
What happens if you are blind or hard of hearing?
Ask the airline for assistance when you book, at least 48 hours ahead, and say what you need. Schiphol, which calls itself a silent airport, meets passengers at 27 call points and walks them to the gate. When Indian terminals went quiet in 2017, disability groups objected that visual information alone leaves blind travellers dependent on staff, which is exactly why the assistance request matters more at a quiet airport than a loud one.
Do silent airports make people miss flights?
Changi asked airlines to stop doubling up on calls in 2014 and reported a negligible change in late passengers before going fully silent in 2018. Dubai cut announcements from over 2,000 a day to under 700 in 2010 with no hit to departure performance. Indian reporting after 2017 was less flattering, with passengers who expected a call missing flights. Treat the screen as the call and the difference disappears.
Which quiet airports can I reach nonstop from Dubai?
Three of the seventeen. Riyadh takes 1h 50m with Riyadh Air, Hyderabad 3h 50m with IndiGo and Chennai 4h 15m with IndiGo. Every other airport on the list needs a connection. Tap through the widget above and each card names the airline, the stop count and the outbound flight time behind its Dubai reference fare.
Sources
- Gulf News (the King Khalid Terminal 5 rollout, the channels replacing announcements and the WhatsApp number)
- Saudi Gazette (the launch of the Silent Airport project at Riyadh)
- Saudi Gazette (Abha becoming the first silent airport in Saudi Arabia)
- Dubai Airports (the fall from over 2,000 daily announcements to under 700 at Dubai International)
- Simpleway (the automated gate-lounge announcement system at Dubai International, and its 25 languages)
- Helsinki Airport (the airport announcing it had gone silent, 2 June 2015)
- Mothership (Changi ending final calls and paging, and the Changi Airport Group comment)
- The Star (what KLIA and klia2 kept and what they dropped)
- Philippine News Agency (the Mactan-Cebu transition)
- The Tribune (Delhi going first in India, and Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai following)
- Schiphol (the airport describing itself as a silent airport and how it informs deaf and blind passengers)
- London City Airport (the silent policy in the airport’s own words)
- Copenhagen Airport (no loudspeaker calls for Go to gate or Boarding)
- Euro Weekly News (Zurich reducing announcements and dropping French)
- View from the Wing (the San Francisco quiet policy figures)
- Deccan Chronicle (the accessibility objection raised when Indian terminals went quiet)
