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Abu Dhabi Airport Free Zone (ADAFZ) is one of the six free zones on the list kept by Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development. Three setup agencies publish a first year on a flexi desk at AED 11,500 to AED 14,590, with no visa included. We could not confirm the zone's own prices: adafz.ae and the Abu Dhabi Airports free zone page blocked every attempt we made to load them. If you need an airport-side licence in Abu Dhabi, ask for a written quote before you budget.
How much does an ADAFZ license cost?
We hold this page to the same rule as every other: a fee goes on it only with its source and its label. For ADAFZ that means three kinds of figure, and none of them is official and confirmed.
| Item | Figure | Label |
|---|---|---|
| First year on a flexi desk, no visa | AED 11,500 to AED 14,590 | Published by 3 setup agencies |
| Smart Desk, 2 service activities, no visa | AED 6,000 a year | Search results only, not confirmed |
| Flexi Desk, 5 activities, 2 visa quota | AED 8,000 a year | Search results only, not confirmed |
| Smart Desk with 1 visa | AED 12,000 a year | Search results only, not confirmed |
| Executive Desk, 5 activities, 2 visa quota | AED 16,000 a year | Search results only, not confirmed |
Agency range checked . The four package rows are shown in search results for adafz.ae pages we could not open, so we could not read the terms.
The package names in those search results do not agree. One snippet calls the AED 8,000 Flexi Desk package "Entrepreneur", another gives that name to the AED 6,000 Smart Desk package. So we leave the names off and show what each row is said to include. Archived copies of the registration page from show no prices and tell you to contact the sales team, which fits a zone that prices by quote.
Older press coverage helps explain why figures vary. A Gulf News report from March said ADAFZ waived licence fees for new companies and cut setup costs by more than 65%. We do not know which parts of that offer still apply.
What setup agencies publish
Three agencies publish an ADAFZ first year on a flexi desk at AED 11,500 to AED 14,590 (published prices of 3 setup agencies, checked ).
- Riz & Mona and Incorporate.ae both start at about AED 11,500 for a flexi desk with no visa.
- Emirabiz gives AED 14,590 for year one on a flexi desk. That covers registration, the licence, the desk, the establishment card and system activation, with a quota for up to 2 visas. The visas cost extra.
Emirabiz also splits out a licence fee, a registration fee and a per visa zone fee. No other agent or official page repeats those lines, so one source is not enough for us to print them. Another agency quotes licence fees well above this range. None of these is our price.
What we could not confirm at all: share capital, company types (agencies disagree) and setup time (agencies say from about a week to about a month). Get each in writing.
Who ADAFZ may suit
An airport free zone makes sense when your business moves goods by air or serves airlines and airport users: air cargo, freight forwarding, aviation services or trading that ships through Abu Dhabi's airports. If you only need a desk licence and visas, a zone with a confirmed price list is easier to plan around. KEZAD publishes its packages with visas and VAT included, and our cheapest free zone in Abu Dhabi page compares the published entry prices.
If you were looking for the Dubai zone with a similar name, that is Dubai Airport Free Zone, a separate authority in Dubai.
How to get a real ADAFZ quote
- Write down your activities and how many visas you need in year one.
- Ask which airport location and desk type the quote covers.
- Ask for each line: registration, licence, desk or office, establishment card, visas, medical and Emirates ID.
- Ask whether any share capital must be deposited or shown.
- Ask for the renewal cost from year two.
Our free zone hidden costs guide lists the lines that most often get left out.
Send your request through us
The form on this page is the simplest way to get those answers in writing. UAEFreeZoneDirectory.com is an independent directory: we are not ADAFZ or Abu Dhabi Airports, and we do not set its fees. We pass your enquiry to the zone or to a licensed setup partner, who quotes you directly. The Abu Dhabi free zones hub has the other five zones if you want to compare first.
Setup consultants that work with ADAFZ
Several setup consultants name ADAFZ on their own websites. The highest ranked of them by weighted Google score are ADS Management Tax Consultancy LLC, OnTime Business Setup and Decisive Zone. ADS Management Tax Consultancy LLC is based in Downtown Dubai. Check any quote against ADAFZ's own price on this page, and browse every firm in the directory of Dubai setup consultants.
Sources
- ADDED free zone list: ADAFZ listed as an Abu Dhabi free zone
- ADAFZ website and ADAFZ registration and licensing: package figures seen in search results only; pages blocked our checks
- Abu Dhabi Airports free zone page: operator; page blocked our checks
- Gulf News report on the fee waiver: earlier licence fee waiver
- Emirabiz ADAFZ cost page, Rizmona ADAFZ page and Incorporate.ae ADAFZ page: agency package figures and locations
