General Information » Getting Around » Air

Dubai’s location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa makes it an easily accessible city. London is seven hours away, Frankfurt six, Hong Kong eight, and Nairobi four. Most major cities have direct flights to Dubai, many with a choice of operator. There are also now direct flights to North America and Australia.

Dubai International Airport is a world renowned airport, handling over 21 million passengers in 2004. An ambitious US $540 million expansion programme has transformed the already excellent airport into a state-of-the-art facility, ready to meet the needs of passengers for the next 30 years. Work has already started on an even larger third terminal due to service all Emirates flights. See Key Projects for more information.

Currently, more than 90 airlines take advantage of Dubai’s open skies policy, operating to and from over 120 destinations. Dubai’s award winning airline, Emirates, is based here and operates scheduled services to over 70 destinations. The airline’s growth is staggering, now with a fleet of 80 aircraft and with over 90 more on order, including 45 of the Airbus A-380 ‘super-jumbo’. It is estimated that the region's airlines will need to find over 4,000 trained pilots over the next ten years in order to meet demand. Staggering when you consider that only XX years ago, Dubai didn't even have its own airport!

There are currently two terminals at Dubai airport, located on different sides of the airport (a 15 – 30 minute taxi ride, depending on the traffic. There’s also a shuttle bus). Both terminals offer car rental, hotel reservations and bureau de change services. Most of the better-known airlines use Terminal One, but a selection of over 20 airlines operates from Terminal Two, primarily serving the former Soviet countries. Duty Free shops are located in both the arrivals and departures halls, although the arrivals hall outlet is limited. All travellers have the opportunity to enter the prestigious Dubai Duty Free raffle to win a luxury car, which can be shipped anywhere in the world (tickets are Dhs.500 each, but only 1,000 tickets are sold).

Dubai National Airline Travel Agency (DNATA) is home to most of the main airline offices in Dubai. Here, you can make enquiries, book and collect tickets and apply for your e-Gate card. DNATA is located in the Airline Centre building on Sheikh Zayed Road (map ref 5-C4) and in the DNATA building near Deira City Centre (map ref X-XX).

For up-to-date flight information, call 216 6666.

Launched in October 2003, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE (based in Abu Dhabi), has ambitious growth plans, adding one...