Dubai International Airport (IATA: DXB, ICAO: OMDB) (Arabic: مطار دبي الدولي) is an international airport serving Dubai, the largest city of the United Arab Emirates. It is a major aviation hub in the Middle East, and is the main airport of Dubai. It is situated in the Al Garhoud district, 4 km (2.5 mi) southeast of Dubai. The airport is operated by the Department of Civil Aviation and is the home base of Dubai’s international airline, Emirates and Emirates SkyCargo; the Emirates hub is the largest airline hub in the Middle East and Africa; Emirates handles 60% of all passenger traffic, and accounts for 38% of all aircraft movements at the airport. Dubai Airport is also the base for low-cost carrier, Flydubai. As of June 2009, there over 5,600 weekly flights operated by nearly 100 airlines to over 200 destinations across all six continents.
The airport was the 15th busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic handling 40.9 million passengers in 2009. The airport was also the 6th busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic. In addition to being an important passenger traffic hub, the airport is the 7th busiest cargo airport in world, handling 1.927 million tonnes of cargo in 2009, a 5.6% increase compared to 2008 and was also the 3rd busiest International freight traffic airport in world.
The new $4.5 billion Terminal 3 opened on 14 October 2008, and was built exclusively for the use of Emirates Airline. Concourse 3 is also part of Terminal 3, and is expected to be completed by 2011. It will be built exclusively for the Emirates Airbus A380. Terminal 3 added 1.5 km2 (0.58 sq mi) to the airport and is the single largest building in the world by floor space. Dubai International Airport will be complemented by Al Maktoum International Airport (Dubai World Central International Airport), a new 140 km2 (54 sq mi) airport that will help handle the influx of travellers well into the future. Information from wikipedia
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Taxi: Prepaid taxis to the city centre can be booked 24 hours a day in the Terminal 1 Arrivals hall.
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DTCM also opened a tourist info stand in Terminal 3 in September 2009.
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Eating and drinking: There are some 25 restaurants, cafés and bars in the Sheikh Rashid Departures concourse. The Food Court is located on the upper level, between gates 13 and 15, with outlets including fast food and international cuisine. An Irish Village is located near gate 23. There are also restaurants in Terminal 2.
Shopping: There is comprehensive duty-free shopping at the airport. Dubai Duty Free has a massive array on offer at the Terminal 1 Sheikh Rashid Departures concourse and the ground level of the Departures hall, while Terminal 2 has a special bulk purchasing desk.
Luggage: There is a baggage relocation system in place, which electronically tags each piece of luggage, in order to make retrieval of lost luggage faster and easier.
Other facilities: There is a 24-hour fully-equipped medical centre, located on the ground level of the Terminal 1 Sheikh Rashid Departures concourse, near gate 13 (tel: (04) 216 4950). There are also prayer rooms (for either men or women), a lounge for women, a children’s play area and the the G-Force Health Club (tel: (04) 216 4257) with a swimming pool, gym and massage facilities.
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DWC-Al Maktoum International Airport is part of a wider development called Dubai World Central (DWC), which is a 140 sq km urban aviation land project that is twice the size of Hong Kong Island. The whole project is geared to cater to Dubai’s transportation, aviation, logistics and commercial needs until 2050 and beyond. The second airport really is being built as part of a long term vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Aviation City Corporation (who’s also the Chairman of Emirates Group).
The whole DWC-Al Maktoum International Airport is being built in phases. What we need to understand is the size of project – the current size of Dubai International is 14 sq kms. Only Al Maktoum International (within DWC) is 68 sq km. Dubai International commenced operations in the eighties and is still ongoing with projected capacity of close to 40 million passengers this year (2009) i.e after nearly three decades. So what I don’t understand is the big issue created by the media when Dubai World Central pushed back the opening of the airport by a few months (scheduled opening in Oct 2009 to the final date of June 2010) which is 8 months. For a project of this size to eventually cater to 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually, one has to understand that time is really not a consideration. Besides the size which is meant to cater to the massive growth still being experienced by Dubai, the standards will be of a class which will rarely be seen elsewhere…. so the project will still carry on at its regulat pace of construction.
This now brings me to the question – What Will Happen To Current Dubai International Airport When The New One Starts Operating? For the new airport to be fully functional, which is at its full capacity of 160 million passengers, it will take another 15-20 years maybe – long enough time for the Dubai Government to decide what needs to be done with Dubai International. By then, who knows, there may be a need for two airports like any other major city of the world.
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