Dubai Airport

Grim experience transiting in both directions between Gatwick and Male with bus transfers to the terminal one in the middle of the night and one in baking heat early afternoon. Have deemed this "queuing time". Terminal horribly crowded outbound but only about a quarter as many people on return journey so hard to see that both times this could be down to too many planes competing for the piers. Have done the same journey smoothly twice previously but would avoid Dubai in future and have ruled out transit there for a planned trip to Australia.

Had an hour transit on our way to Barcelona. We were also bussed to the building from a long way off. We just made our connecting flight. I agree that the airport is hectic. On our return flight we had a 3 hour layover. Having flown business class we fortunately did not experience the lack of seating and facilities that seems to be a problem; although the business class lounge is also very busy - we noticed that the food stations' quality and selection has deteriorated since last year. Even though we left the business class lounge well before time to get to our gate fighting our way against the streaming tide of shoppers to get to our gate. As a family of four it took concentration to stay together; we just held onto each others' belts and let my husband lead the way! However we still only arrived as they were doing 'last call'. I really needed that glass of champagne I tell you - 9 in the morning or not! We find Doha airport far better but Emirates flights were more suitable to us this time.

Dreadful Transit on Emirates. Remote parking and bussing to and from remote stands (10 mins to deplane and 20 mins each way on both Arrival and Departure flights) turned my 2 hour comfortable connection into a mad scrabble to get through the dreadful transit security (15 mins) and the full length of the terminal (10mins) to my connecting flight which if you're not at the gate 35 mins before departure you will not be allowed to board - crazy. Emirates have simply too many flights in and out of DXB which despite Terminal 3 being only 2 or 3 years old is now well over capacity.

Not impressed with the increasing amount of bussing going on in DXB predominantly with Emirates flights - 10 mins taxi-ing to get to some remote stand 10-15 mins to deplane a further 20 mins in a freezing bus and another 15 mins to get through transit security. So that's the thick end of an hour just to get into the Departures Concourse where Emirates expect you to turn up at the gate 35 minutes before departure time and do another 20 minute bus ride back to where you came from. You can just about make a 2 hour transit connection - IF the flight's on time and IF you don't need to go a toilet in the Terminal. Any shorter forget it. The reason for all this? Well it's because DXB has more flight slots than they have gates to service them. And who ends up with all the bussing nonsense? Well Emirates the home carrier of course because if they bussed Cathay Pacific passengers then Cathay Pacific probably wouldn't bother flying to DXB next year. Main Tip - if you have an Emirates connection through DXB make sure it's longer than 2 hours and go to the toilet before landing.

Transited twice through DXB to/from Europe flying Emirates. DXB is a massive let down. I was expecting a shiny new spacious airport only to be confronted by an overcrowded Westfield with some planes attached. The worst part of it is that I will probably fly through here again due to the excellent connection provided from Aus to Europe but not happily.

This airport is geared towards the business / first class traveller with limited concession made for transit passengers on economy. Long queues for toilets limited cafes not enough seating & sporadic signage. With the long & narrow layout making it busier than Oxford St (London) time spent here makes for an unpleasant break from the overall Emirates journey.

First time we have used Dubai for many years as a stopover between UK and Australia and it really has become an unpleasant terminal. Overcrowded no seating and 15 min wait to use very unhygienic toilets. We were on the transfer bus for 25 mins on departure with most people standing. No seating available in the cafes. The terminal is greatly over subscribed and will certainly stop us using Emirates again on this route.

The passenger terminal is insanely overcrowded but the airfield is even worst. After landing from Madrid we spent one hour taxing around the field because there were no ramps available. It's a shame because it offers very good connections between Europe Australia and far east.

I travelled to DXB in Aug-Sep of 2012 and had a very bad experience. I travelled from JFK-DXB for 13 hrs and had to wait at Dubai Immigration lines for another 2 hours. What are those officers thinking. Then comes the over crowded airport - had to wait more than 15 minutes just to use the toilet. Too much shopping. Next time I will travel through Europe.

One of the worst airports I've ever visited. I was exhausted by the time I arrived here at one in the morning after a decidedly uncomfortable flight and was therefore looking forward to what I had thought would be a swanky modern airport befitting a gulf state famous for the emphasis it places on customer service. I was obviously wrong. With its endless rows of Duty Free shops the airport functions more like a shopping mall than a travel terminal and lacks the sort of facilities other less wealthy places have. Sweated like a pig wandering around trying to find a restaurant or café that wasn't besieged by swarms of equally thirsty passengers. Not only were the crowds nigh impossible to navigate through but throughout my entire four- hour long ordeal here I never managed to find a seat; like many others I was instead forced to squat it out on the floor some distance away from my gate. The inexcusable lack of toilets is further compounded by their filthiness - although there were attendants inside the three which I visited none had any opportunity to actually clean the place due to the queues. As much as I like flying Emirates I'd rather spend my money on Qatar who does transcontinental stopovers at Doha an indisputably nicer place.