Dubai International Airport Passenger Reviews and Dubai Airport Customer opinions

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Dubai International Airport customer review :  15 April 2011 by Roger Lyon   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Transit both ways MAN to SYD. Main thoroughfare is very crowded and seating at a premium. Security checks are a pain and the need to go up and down on escalators and lifts after arrival is very annoying. Poor design. Shops and Duty Free are not very inspiring either, and considering what this place must have cost, it is particularly disappointing.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  8 April 2011 by Rob Cooper   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Transited Terminal 3. Although a huge terminal space, it does not appear to be well designed or anywhere near capable of handling the huge number of passengers that transit through it at peak periods, meaning there are not enough toilets - you have to queue at every one, not enough showers queues for everyone, not enough seating (very little at all), long queues to clear security when transiting actually you are quicker to go through passport control - and use the facilities landside as there is no congestion, very few places to eat or have a drink. Prices of those places expensive, there are a lot of shops but it is not cheap - and all the shops are in the centre of the terminal, which means people trying to get to and from gates have to pass through the shopping area, making for complete chaos. Boarding process very slow and again not well organised. I do not recommend this airport to transit.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  28 March 2011 by Gerard Waterberg   (Netherlands)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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In Transit at Dubai last week, and four weeks before that. The total lack of a sufficient number of toilets. No matter which toilet I tried, there was always a queue waiting, taking you at least 10-15 mins. For an airport this size, you would expect them to plan for enough toilets but obviously, they did not. Not enough seating at the gates. Before you go down into the "real" waiting room, the seating at the gate is only 1/3 of what it should be. On both arrivals we had to be bussed to the terminal (both Emirates flights!). Is there really no parking closer than 15 mins away!? In all of the terminal only 1 ATM accepts european MAstercard/Cirrus cards. All the rest display the Cirrus Logo, but it doesn't work.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  20 March 2011 by Simon Oakes   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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In transit through Terminal 3 twice this week. On both occasions lengthy transit security queues, crowded terminal, limited free seating and toilet facilities poor. Definitely not a world class facility and one to be avoided if at all possible.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  9 March 2011 by T Neyrinck   (Belgium)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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Use Dubai T1 every month and it is good. Fast arrivals, and when departing efficient check-in, fast security, good shopping, airline lounges okay. Only drawback the linear design of the terminal at the gates, which requires long walks. Also weird to see that the gate the flight is leaving from is always at the opposite side of the terminal when comparing to the lounge locations.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  3 March 2011 by Steve Durham   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Is it over a mile from end to end? Certainly felt like it when connecting from a late inbound flight to catch connecting flight and having to transit almost the whole length of the terminal at 2am., avoiding shoppers and the mass of other passengers, after delays clearing transit security. Seems to be a shortage of toilet facilities, also of flight information screens. Return trip better, bussed from arriving aircraft to terminal (took 15 minutes of interminable driving around the airport!) but at least it deposited us close to our departure gate, and transit security not busy. Definite lack of toilets and comfortable seating, resorted to using Cafe Cadiz on first floor, part of the Dubai International Hotel. Avoid Dubai Terminal 3 if possible.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  4 February 2011 by James Scott   (UAE)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Terminal 3, departed on an 0830 flight DXB to Cape Town. A terrible experience, with toilets crammed, and dirty, shopping a crush, buying a coffee was a 20 minute line, and no seating available anyway to wait for the flight. A very, very unpleasant and stressful experience. Contrast this with the calm and serenity of Bangkok, Singapore, or Hong Kong, and Dubai has a lot of work to do.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  28 January 2011 by N Sutherland   (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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I transit DXB every month (usually in the middle of the night or early morning) and the previous posts are correct - at some times of the year the queues at transit security are lengthy and at other times non-existent. I came through the other day in 5 minutes, but the longest couldn't have been more than 20 minutes. The size of the terminals and the often lengthy walks involved can be a real challenge in making a connection of anything less than 2 hours. Also Emirates seem to be back into bussing mode again - and not 5 minutes either - 15 or 20 minutes bus rides from remote stands are not uncommon. A ridiculous situation for an airline at their home base. If you're connecting with another Emirates flight they factor this in and the flight will hold for 10 or 20 minutes if there's a significant number of connecting passengers missing.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  26 January 2011 by Kevin Tunnicliffe   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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I wonder if they have finally got the message? In the past my experience has been that the transit security was an enormous free for all with massive queues and extremely incompetent staff. On both outbound and inbound legs of my journey this time the experience was different. No queues to speak of and plenty of staff around so all lines were open. The staff are no more diligent than before. The chap supposedly screening the bags was having a chat with another member of staff and taking not a bit of notice of the screen, nothing new there, but at least it was all over quickly. Airport crowded as usual but far fewer people sleeping in the corridors.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  3 January 2011 by Ehssan Konjkav   (Iran)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I was in transit for few hours. The queue is a huge mess - after 7 hours flight had to queue for security just so we can go to another terminal! Airport clean however is so big and you have to walk a lot and is really exhausting. If you are travelling with kids or elders please don't go to Dubai, because it is really stressful. Use Dubai airport as your last choice.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  31 December 2010 by N Chowdhury   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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More style than substance. Outbound flight delayed so had to rush for connecting flight. Inadequate signage and lengthy queues at security - we had to push to the front and insist on queue-jumping to catch our flight! Return journey no better. Lack of information which way to go and how to transit. Again long queues at security. Will try to avoid this airport in future. Not a good experience.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  9 October 2010 by Boris Orenic   (Slovakia)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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I transited through DXB T3 twice last month. I found the terminal very crowded with queues for customs and toilets. I was not able to find a seat to wait for my connection flight.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  6 September 2010 by H Lamb   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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Transited between 2am-7am and while the transit is pretty efficient, there are nowhere near enough toilets or places to sit and wait. The only seats are in cafe's etc or in the actual departure gate. We paid 45Dh each for a shower in the health club, we should have bought a travel sized towel and used the free showers. It is a bit of a circus and totally packed wall to wall with people, but pretty civilised given the numbers that pass through.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  23 August 2010 by Dorothy Holland   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Transited through Dubai airport. They have certainly spent a lot of money on the building however there has been no thought to either the number of toilets available for a whole plane load of tourists nor how they have set up their security - and the walk fron the plane to security was so long our flight was called when we were half way to security. It was a case of run to security then line up. People were sitting everywhere on the floor and no one moving. After a 15 hour flight from Brisbane this is not what anyone needs.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  20 August 2010 by A Walker   (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Was in transit with Emirates and exclusively in Terminal 3. OK, so it looks impressive from outside and it is impressive inside, but when your inbound flight is delayed and you have to get to your outbound connection in 20 mins, it is not easy. The airport is too large and there should have been more thought put into how passengers get around in transit. We had to go from our gate, to security, then all the way back out to the gates. There were large queues at security and there was no allowance for the large group of passengers who were rushing for the connecting flight. There were very long queues at security. The duty free areas were OK but the stalls in the middle of the corridor/walkway meant that with passengers going in different directions along the narrower walkways it became congested at times. The airport could do with more seating and perhaps reclining/flatbed seats at the gates. The airport toilets could do with being cleaned more often, as there was always a lot of water/fluid on the floor.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  8 August 2010 by L Ralte   (India)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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Arrived at Dubai International and it was a complete chaos! It was around midnight and was not ready for the marathon to get my baggage. The queue at immigration was slow. As my next flight with Emirates has a transit of more than 8hrs, I was given the complimentary hotel stay at the Millenium airport hotel which was excellent. Few minutes drive from the airport. Check in not so chaotic as I anticipated. Lots of self check in and multiple baggage drop counters. The duty free area is another experience . The bathrooms were not as bad as posted here before, plenty of place to sit and relax and free wifi is not bad.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  3 August 2010 by Kurt Muller   (Germany)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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I transit via Dubai 4 to 6 times a month and have to say it works. Of course, the interminable bus transfers across the apron are a pain. Security is reasonable in terms of waiting time. My main gripe is the noise level: an almost constant stream of boarding calls - ridiculous at an airport this size with dozens of information screens littered around the concourse. They even have separate calls in the EK lounges which make it impossible to sleep.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  14 July 2010 by S Kilamanou   (Belgium)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I agree the terminal 3 is uninspiring, overcrowded, and not easy to transit, since the design puts everything in a line and not in a square shape - so going from one side to the other is a painful journey. There is no good restaurants at all and facilities not the best. Staff is rude and many of them seem not to know where do they work. The duty free is more expensive than Dubai itself. It's going to be 2 years old, and it looks already overused. And the design - what to say about a building made with no taste and cheap materials.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  12 July 2010 by T Neyrinck   (Belgium)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Used T1 flying LH from DXB to MUC. Airport was very quiet around 6AM on Friday, check-in and security with no lines. Terminal showing its age already. Enough shops and food courts. Main problem is the very long walks to the gates (terminal is a long array, no hub-and-spokes), and the hundreds of people spending the night sleeping in the hallways. Not a terminal where one wants to spend a long lay-over.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  29 June 2010 by Thomas Sanderson   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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What a terrible airport, Shops in abundance, but the emirates terminal was so packed, both times I have passed through it has been deeply unpleasant. Food and drink wise, it's horrendous, mass queuing at small outlets with few staff. I waited 20 mins for just an ice tea. The seating facilities are little more than pathetic, people sat everywhere, on railings, all over the floor at a major airport . From travelling from Bangkok airport, which is very smart with good facilities to Dubai, you wouldn't believe the investment that has been put into the Dubai airport. Even transit from the plane took, mirrored a journey travelling down the m6, slow moving traffic for about 30mins after a long flight is extremely poor. The airport very much mirrors Emirates, very big and flash on the outside, but in reality, it's vastly disappointing, lacking any class, real investment and far too over crowded.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  13 June 2010 by A Patel   (New Zealand)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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They need to increase the number of toilets, showers, seating. It is unbelievable that a major transit airport like Dubai does not have enough toilets and showers - there are actually long lines flowing out into the terminal seating areas and duty free shops. The seating is poor - its a transit airport with people coming from all over the world connecting to flights to the other side of the world and there are not enough seats. The food selection is quite poor and nothing great. The internet facilities are beyond a joke. There's a long long walk to get to a tiny booth with old computers to use the internet. The pay phones are just silly as well. The cleaning people are always helping people use the phones as the dialing system in just crazy. The staff at immigration are really just plain rude. Not a single smile or hello, and quite serious looking faces and grins. Dubai International have got a long way to go to begin coming close to Singapore's Changi Airport

Dubai International Airport customer review :  9 June 2010 by Russell Morris   (Denmark)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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What a shambles! Long bus trips around the airport, long, long queues at the very lax security, inadequate and very misleading signage, Lounges in Terminal 3 more akin to a railway station in rush-hour. Overpriced shops blocking passenger flow through the airport, and possibly a fire hazard.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  24 May 2010 by Kevin Tunnicliffe   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Transited this airport twice this month and they have improved the lines for security. The fact that I did not bother to remove the liquids from by carry on or take of my belt and no- one even glanced at either the scanner or the body x-ray makes the security screening a bit of a joke. Like all other comments I dislike the T3 Business lounge. It is open to all the noise from the main concourse because of the open plan design, grossly overcrowded, especially in the morning and the shower and toilet facilities are a joke.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  8 May 2010 by N Sutherland   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I used to think T1 was a mess (and it was), until now, a year into operation, T3 is actually worse. The other posts say it all - shopping, toilets, noise, crowding - just generally a very poor experience for passengers who have to use the place - and a bad advertisement for Emirates. The only good thing is that they seem to be bussing fewer flights from remote stands than a year ago, but a 2-hour connection is as tight as you'd want to get. I prefer the Emirates Business Lounge in T1 to that awful place in T3. Also Emirates have a bad habit of going from Gate Open, to Boarding and onto Final Call - all in the space of 10 minutes, some 40 or 50 minutes before scheduled flight departure time - and having passengers all dashing across this very large terminal only to have to wait 20 minutes before they can actually board. I'm sure the architect's sketches of T3 look fantastic - sadly the reality is less so.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  27 April 2010 by David Bradley   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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T3 is shocking - it's a cattle market and is getting worse. Emirates need to get a grip on this quickly. It is the noisiest airport I have recently encountered, passenger announcements boom out about 50 times per hour, there are no dedicated quiet areas, which trust me, is a major issue in this hub airport where long stop-overs are common. It is also common to see 30 men queuing to use the toilet facilities, if it is this bad for men I dread to think what the Ladies are experiencing. There are no-where near enough seats, and I did not see any facilities allocated for families with young children, such as a play area. this was not an issue for me but I did see many frustrated parents and tired fidgety children. Emirates will quickly find that people will by-pass using their airline once the reputation of T3 spreads.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  15 April 2010 by P Messenger   (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Terminal 1 excellent, nice staff, shops, good toilets, and excellent food and drinks. Terminal 3 looks state of the art, but is utterly terrible. Dreadful toilets, dire food and drink, unless MacD's is your thing. The staff were excellent though.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  13 April 2010 by Ross Clark   (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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GLA-DXB T3. Overnighted in Dubai under Emirates STPC arrangements. While the queuing times for crossing the border were pretty good, the staff were unfriendly. Facilities are quite limited - not even any free Internet terminals, like Singapore. Toilet facilities especially atrocious, both in terms of location and capacity - with a large number of people needing to queue. Return in transit to GLA from MEL. The transit times at 5-30am were OK (ten minutes for security, no passport check required), but it was not helped by Emirates policy of parking aircraft miles (literally) away from the terminal and then bussing us. The concourse (T3-concourse 2) is already too small and another concourse (T3-concourse 3) is being built to its the south-east. Ultimately T3 is like Dubai itself - glitzy but ultimately superficial.