Once you have booked your tickets for a holiday trip to Dubai, you must be aware of certain important facts about this place. Always keep in mind, that it is a foreign country and since, you have never been to this place, you should go through the Dubai travel guide to gather more information on this foreign land. Your first point of entry to Dubai is definitely the airport.
The Dubai International Airport (DXB) is located in the Al Garhoud district, which is 4 km away from Dubai in Southeast direction. It is known as one of the busiest airport in the world and the busiest in Middle East. The number of passengers passing through this airport is increasing every year. By 2010, the airport is expected to be used by around 60 million passengers annually. Currently, the airport has 3 terminals. However extension works are being carried on to provide adequate space to the passengers and other users. In near future, there are plans to rename this airport as Al Maktoum International Airport.
The airport is the home base for Dubai International airline, Emirates Airline and Emirates Skycargo. It is also a secondary base for other middle-eastern airlines like Jazeera Airways, Iran Aseman Airlines, Royal Jordanian etc. In addition to these quite a large number of international airlines regularly fly to Dubai from various parts of the world, such as Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, New Zealand and Australia. Approximately it will take around 8 hours to reach from London, around 15 hours to reach from New York, around 20 hours from Los Angeles, around 14 hours from Toronto and around 16 hours from Sydney.
This Dubai travel guide also contains information on various facilities available in the airport. It has facilities like ATMs, currency exchange centers, banks, post office, emergency medical arrangements, pharmacy, restaurants, café, executive lounge, health spa, gym, tourist information center, left luggage, duty free shopping enclave, children’s play area, car hiring agents and secluded smoking area.
As Dubai is an important center for exporting and importing flowers from distant places, so it has arranged for a special facility providing suitable environment to maintain the freshness of the flowers. Lots of plans are there to construct this part of the airport as an all-inclusive facility for storing and handling flowers. As per your Dubai travel guide, you will find two more business facilities within and around this airport. The Global Link Business Center and The Connect Business Center will offer you conference rooms, meeting rooms, workstations, fax machines and relevant office supports.
Our Dubai travel guide will not be sufficient unless you receive information on transportation arrangements to the main city. You will find air-conditioned Dubai International Airport buses for city center or certain major hotels in the city. These buses are available from the Airport Ground Transportation Center and the Arrivals. Within few days, the Dubai Metro rail will be operational to take you through different parts of the city. You may also hire cabs of Dubai Taxi agency from the airport.
Safety and security is another major point of concern for the authorities. So, the airport has upgraded in latest screening technology which can not only detect weapons, but also can test passengers for drugs in their blood. Carrying illegal drugs is a serious offense in Dubai, which can lead to severe penalty.
You may keep a hard copy of this Dubai travel guide for your future reference during the trip.