In 1991 due to the outbreak of the Gulf War, the show was moved from January to November and it had a strong military focus given events in the region.

The 2001 show took place just six weeks after the events of September 11, 2001, and closed with record order book of US$15.6 billion.

In 2013, 1,046 exhibitors came from 60 countries, drawing 60,692 trade attendees for a record $206.1 billion order book of aircraft, parts and MRO deals.

[5] Emirates made the highest price airliner order with $99 billion for 150 newly launched Boeing 777Xs plus 50 options and 50 Airbus A380s.

[14] In 2017, 874 commitments and options were announced including 15% firm, compared with 67 in 2015 and 684 in 2013, 74.9% from LCCs, 15.7% from lessors and 8.1% from mainline carriers.

[16] On 18 November 2019, the second day of the biennial airshow, Emirates announced an order worth a total of $16 billion for 50 Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

[17] Also on the 18th, Air Arabia ordered for 120 Airbus A320 family aircraft, including 73 of the high-efficiency A320neo variants and 23 A321XLR with a total book value in excess of $14 billion.

[22] On November 16, Indian airline Akasa Air also placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

[22] Israeli companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems participated at the show for the first time.

The flying display at the Dubai Airshow has included the Airbus A380, A400M, F-16, F/A-18, F-22 Raptor, V-22 Osprey, B-1B, Eurofighter Typhoon along with aerobatic displays by international teams including Patrouille de France, Red Arrows from the UK and Al Fursan from the UAE.