Dubai International Airport Passenger Reviews and Dubai Airport Customer opinions

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Dubai International Airport customer review :  1 April 2010 by D Khoos   (Malaysia)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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T3. Upon arrival, we were sardined-packed into busses. And the journey was a very long one, which took 10+ mins from aircraft to the terminal. Upon arrival, all passengers had to go through a baggage check - with only 2 x-ray scanners - took another 40 mins. So, a total of almost 50 mins to get from my aircraft to the building. Once inside, I thought I was in an extremely over-crowded supermarket. Toilets could not be found. The only good thing is the economy class lounge with buffet, with free wi-fi.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  22 March 2010 by Michael Schade   (Germany)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Had the "pleasure" to arrive and depart from Dubai terminal 1. My flight was suppose to arrive at terminal 1, but was directed to terminal 3 due to lack of gates. Bags were transferred to terminal 1 which caused chaos among the passengers. There was no info about where to get the bags. Pax were expected to clear customs at terminal 3, take a bus to terminal 1 and get back into the arrival area to collect their bags. It took me almost 2 hrs to get my bags; and I was one of the fist ones to get them. I wonder what happened to the wheelchair bound passengers. Departure from Terminal 1 was utter chaos with rude security officers and endless lines waiting for security and immigration processing. Terminal 1 in Dubai is a disgrace.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  19 March 2010 by K Chan   (Hong Kong)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Hong Kong to Milan on Emirates via Dubai T3. What an awful airport for transit - took more than an hour to get to the main terminal after touch down. Once inside, it was like a jungle. All washrooms had huge line-ups and very filthy. Staff at departure gates were cold and unfriendly. Would I ever transit via Dubai? No way!

Dubai International Airport customer review :  10 March 2010 by Fabio Casula   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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I am a regular business class traveller on Emirates. I flew to Perth via Dubai recently. On my return journey, picking up the London Heathrow connection at 7.45 AM I was apalled to see that Emirates had a very limited number of X- ray machines for passengers in transit. The huge queue resulted in almost missing the flight and certainly very little time to enjoy the business class lounge facilities. This has become a common reoccurance with all of the flights from Asia and Australia arriving at the same time at Emirates dedicated terminal 3. It is only after complaining to the X ray machine operators about our urgent departure for London that we were advised that the dedicated First/business class X ray and body scan machine could have been used. Emirates really need to sort out the huge passenger backlog and security scan issue for passenger in transit or the airport staff must organise the scan more efficiently and quickly. Either way, why do we need a further X ray scan whilst this has already occurred at departure point?

Dubai International Airport customer review :  5 March 2010 by K Willis   (New Zealand)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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My family and I have just returned from 3 days in Dubai. We got held on arrival for 4hrs at the airport by customs because my husband had a telescopic lens in his suitcase. It was a very expensive gift given to him and it was confiscated. They just said "not allowed". I have yet to find anywhere that it says it was a banned item! This was not a weapon but somehow they thought it was! No, we won't be returning, and be very careful on what you take in!

Dubai International Airport customer review :  28 February 2010 by Kevin Tunnicliffe   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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I have always been critical of Dubai as a transit passenger because of the rather soulless lounge and the security queue length and lack of priority lane. I was amazed at the dedicated first and business class check in at terminal three - smooth and efficient and security screening was swift and professional. No change with the lounge though.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  27 February 2010 by B Anderson   (New Zealand)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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T3 in Dubai and T3 in Singapore are what you would call polar opposites. Dubai is a noisy, poorly organised, poorly laid out horrible experience. As a frequent flyer in business class I have access to the huge business lounge which boasts uncomfortable seating, open air layout so you get all the noise from the levels below, overcrowding at peak times, queues for toilets, unhelpful staff and a twenty minute walk to a connecting flight depending on where you are flying. Well done Emirates, you have actually created a business lounge more uncomfortable inside than out! Must save you millions.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  31 January 2010 by Kurt Mueller   (Germany)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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As long as you are not being bussed from aircraft to terminal or vv, T3 is ok. Fair enough, the personnel at the various security check points are not the brightest - but then, are they elsewhere? The main architectural gripe is the linear layout of the building, which makes for sheer endless walks from one end to the other. Also, there is no post office in T3 - you have to go to T1 for that.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  30 January 2010 by Allen Coulson   (Gambia)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I transited through T3 for Bangkok at the new year. My first impression is that it is full already! The facilities are not improved at all - shopping is uninspiring, the bars are not for me, toilets not enough. The business class lounge is just a cafe! I took the long walk through to T1 which was a cheerless experience but I did reflect that when it was opened it was a great improvement on its predecessor - which is not repeated in its present incarnation.

Dubai International Airport customer review :  25 January 2010 by S Prasad   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Beware of this airport. Travelling Business Class Emirates, transiting through Dubai Airport. Security confiscated my laser pointer! This was in my hand baggage. No explanation - and very rude. I requested to see a senior, after some discussion, he passed me on to some one else, - again a rude "not allowed". A lot of people travelling to/from a meeting or conference carry a pointer - clearly passengers travelling to a meeting/conference should avoid going through Dubai if possible.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  21 January 2010 by N Cutts   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Had the misfortune to transit through Dubai T3 on a couple of occasions, in both instances flying Emirates on all legs. Both transits involved a long bus trip from aircraft to the terminal, security checking (whilst necessary) was incredibly slow - far worse than other hubs such as AMS & SIN. Signage is very poor - although the terminal layout is relatively simple Main problems however are overcrowding and poor provision of facilities. As mentioned by other reviewers - the T1 problems were meant to be solved by T3 - maybe now T1 is OK, but T3 is chaos. It appears that there are only around 4 sets of WCs for the main transit level, with queues for the gents as well as ladies - possibly better to wait until you get through into the gate holding area before using the WC if possible, although I'm not sure if there is WC provision in all of these. Very few seats available for the number of people wanting to use them, and in general staff were unhelpful. Lots of bling shops if that's your bag, but no focus on providing a quality service for passengers just wanting to transit. Had hoped T3 would make the 'Emirates' experience rival SIA etc, but no way. Goodness knows what it will be like when load levels get back to full capacity and over the longer term when flight volumes increase. Somewhat amazingly, it would appear that the architects have a long track record of airport terminal design - so maybe this was a 'Friday afternoon' terminal. It certainly is a sufficiently grim travelling experience to strongly consider paying a premium to travel with another carrier whenever possible.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  4 December 2009 by Martin Waddell   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Three hour wait in Terminal 3 in the early hours of the morning. Terribly crowded, with all sorts of shops wanting to get their hands on your cash. If you're looking for something to eat, and think you might find some interesting Middle Eastern food, forget it - Macdonalds and Starbucks is about it, unless you want to spend lots of money on seafood and champagne. Toilet provision is terrible - maybe about two or three sets of facilities per gender, all with long queues, and water sloshing around the cubicle floors. I suppose you have to endure it in order to take advantage of Emirates flights, but it's not an enjoyable experience.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  4 December 2009 by S Taynton   (Kazakhstan )

Customer Rating :  5/5

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The new terminal at Dubai is great, very modern and easy to find things. The restaurants and bars are a bit on the expensive side but what airport is not. The toilets are clean and the airport did not seem crowded at all. The only problem is the long walk from Terminal three (the new one) to the old terminal. I found the sign posting hard to follow and it is a lot of walking up and down. This would be the drawback for the new terminal as I personally found the old Emirates terminal crowded and unpleasant but this one is much better.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  28 October 2009 by Tony Castanheira   (South Africa)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Travelling through Dubai Airport is in my opinion, one of the worst experiences of my life. Long aircraft taxi (10 mins+), followed by a long bus ride to the terminal from what feels like the other end of Dubai, long queues, extremely unfriendly and arrogant staff, and a "shopping mall" departure lounge, with too few chairs for passengers. My main gripe however, is with the security personnel. I have travelled through numerous airports with my laptop bag, including Dubai only the week before. On this occasion, I was stopped, because my laptop bag had a security cable lock packed in the bag. This was confiscated off me, because it was deemed to be dangerous. The security personnel left me feeling like a criminal, and wondering if I was going to be chucked into jail for this offence. I have travelled through a number of airports with the same device, and have never had it questioned as something that is prohibited onboard as hand luggage. I have also done an extensive search on the internet, and did not find one single site where this device has been flagged as prohibited. This is one airport, (and Emirates as the airline), that I will be avoiding at all costs from now on.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  28 October 2009 by Michael Davies   (UK)

Customer Rating :  5/5

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Terminal 1. Arriving from Doha on Qatar Airways at 21.00. Aircraft parked on a remote stand, bus took us right to the immigration centre - we didn't have to walk long distances. Immigration busy, about 20 desks open and maybe 10 people in each queue, but the process was relatively efficient - waited 10-15 minutes. By the time I arrived at luggage reclaim, by bag was there. Departure - at the airport at 04.30 for a 06.00 departure. Already checked in online, and no queue at Qatar desk. Formalities efficient and a long walk via travelators underground to the departure area. I used the duty free shop - typical choice and prices. I didn't use any other facilities at the airport so I cant comment. Plenty of places to sit and wait.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  8 October 2009 by J Harding   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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The new T3 is a huge disappoinment. Handling of transfer passengers (big business in DXB!) is awful - the design of the airport just doesn't work at all in this respect. Nowhere near enough toilets - queues even for the gents! Poor signage. Need to get from T3 to T1? Make sure you pack your gym kit. Long walk and not too many travelators to help you. Immigration staff are much slower compared with any other place I have visited. Why put these locals there when they are not prepared to work! Using Emirates , our aircraft was still parked miles away from the terminal for which we had to take a long bus journey to terminal. All glitz and glamour as is always the case with Dubai but no substance. First world on the surface, third world thinking underneath.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  6 October 2009 by F Pang   (Qatar)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I transited at DXB twice over the last two months. Every time I was arriving on an Emirates flight and connecting to another carrier's flight (or opposite). The two biggest problems I experienced were a lack of a quick commuting transit system (like the mono rail at HK airport) which allowed me to cross different terminals quickly. Most of the transit desks were not operating and I needed to walk through all to see which one was available. On one occasion, I arrived 1.5 hr before my connecting flight was scheduled to depart, but the bus journey from parking bay to terminal took me 20min, then I had to clear security and walk from T3 to T1 for transit, which took me another 20 min. When I arrived at the transit desk at T1, check-in was close and I had to wait for the next flight (another 5 hr wait). This was not a pleasant experience.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  6 October 2009 by Sohail Saeed   (Pakistan)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Terminal 3 is a chaotic situation due to lack of signage and efficient staff at help desks. Usually help desk staff is disappearing. Situation gets even worse during short transit. A floor plan displayed various location may help passengers to locate themselves and fine their way to appropriate gates.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  29 September 2009 by Roger Lyon   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Agree with many previous comments. Before T3 was opened Emirates were promising that it would solve all the problems of overcrowding at T1. However, this has not proved correct. T3 has been poorly planned, particularly as far as facilities are concerned. Nowhere near enough toilets or seats provided, and the "open plan" Business lounge is awful and impersonal. If I had a long lay over, I would be sorely tempted to head back over to T1. It's also worth noting that EK flights are still regularly landing miles away from the terminal and passengers are still having to be bussed which is a real pain. Whoever was responsible for this hugely disappointing building should not be given similar responsibility again!

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  24 September 2009 by Radoslaw Rokita   (Belgium)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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We arrived from FRA, then connecting flight to KUL with Emirates (economy). In our opinion Terminal 3 is a mistake. I will be repeating myself with other reviewers. T3 is awfully overcrowded. Basic needs like sufficient number of clean toilets or seating places are not satisfied at all. You have to queue everywhere. We will avoid travelling with Emirates via Dubai at any price. I would recommend the same.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  17 September 2009 by C Dennington   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Transiting from the UK back to Australia with Emirates, we taxied to a remote stand and were bussed into the terminal. Then escalators up two floors, down one floor and then up 3 floors seemed crazy to get into a very busy and packed shopping mall. Dubai Duty Free is no more value than any other duty free. Toilets were small, tight, overcrowded and disgracefully dirty. Adding to that a lack of seating anywhere near a non-open gate (perhaps 100 seats for an A380 departure). Air conditioning set on freezing did not help either. Not impressed.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  17 September 2009 by Tansu Gizem   (Turkey)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Terminal 3 is a new structure. The inbound passport control area is very big. I arrived from Istanbul at 12:40 am. There were 14 people in front of me at the waiting line at the inbound passport control. It took 50minutes to go through the passport. The passport police is extremely slow. On my way back from Cape Town I had to spend 7 hours for my connecting flight to Istanbul. I had to use the toilets 2 times. The toilets are very small, there is always a queue. The mens toilets are also very badly used by passengers, floors are flooded by people who do know how to use the toilet sprays. I prefer not to use this airport again.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  17 September 2009 by D Wright   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Terminal 1. On arrival there was a long, long walk to passport control and customs, both of which were efficient. On departure, check-in was efficient, with no lines, as was passport control and security. DCA lounge was bland, with limited food and drink selections, but was quiet. Duty-free was disappointing, with limited selections.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  9 September 2009 by Kostas Sapountzis   (Greece)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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I am also dissatisfied with the new T3 terminal. My main problem was the low temperatures of air-conditioning. It was in August and you had to wear a lot of clothes to hold it. I noticed that most passengers had the same problem and specially if you are on a transit flight and you are unprepared this can be a nightmare. Restaurant services in the airport are minimum and the toilets limited.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT customer review :  8 September 2009 by F Dellera   (Italy)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Terminal 3, too many gates and shops in the same place, while other areas are so empty that seem completely devoid of life. I had a 14 hour transit and be sure that I spent almost all of them at the old Terminal 1.