Dubai Airport

[Ave]

true!

*sigh* Haters will hate, I Love Dubai airport, clean, neat, good food and good shopping. Emirates Lounges for First and Buisness class are well appointed and comfortable. I fly through there no less than 8 times a year. Ironically if the people who hated it so much actualy complained about any of the issues they supposedly had with Emirates they would probably end up with free miles or a discount or some kind of renumeration of some sort. Emirates is big on being classy and hospitable.

[Kerryd]

Wow. I must be flying (regularly) through a different Dubai airport than some people here. I go through there 6-8 times a year (including 6 days ago), and don't seem to encounter any of the problems noted above.

No "machine-gun" toting guards anywhere. The only people with metal detectors are at the security checkpoints where your bags are x-rayed. If more people took a few seconds to actually think about it first, and put all their metallic objects into their handbag/carry-on before trying to pass through the metal detectors, it would certainly ease the process. It gets very annoying to watch people get beeped, go back, take off their wristwatch, get beeped again, go back take out their wallet, get beeped again, go back and remove their cigarettes/lighter/pocket change/etc.

I never have a problem passing through those things, because I do take a couple of seconds (while having to wait in line any ways) to put my metal bearing stuff into my carry on until I pass through the detector.

As for the overcrowding. Yeah, can be tight at times. Sheesh, you'd think they would build an airport where every single passenger could have the seat of his/her choice, in the location of their choice, on standby, just in case that person may want to use it.

Lot of migrant workers who have no choice other than stay at the airport until their next flight (can't get visas, so they can't leave the departure lounge). Maybe the airport could round them all up and put them in a holding pen until their flights. Some people would still find reason to complain though. Now where near as bad as the crowding problems I saw at Toronto's airport though.

Once in awhile, I'll find a toilet that's been used as a bath stall (water every where). Good thing that the Dubai airport has a lot of bathrooms (not like Suvarnabhumi). I should write a letter of complaint. Last time through, I had to wait almost 10 seconds while a cleaner (using a wet-vac) cleaned a stall before letting me in. 10 seconds ! The horror of it all !

I found the Emirates Business Class lounge to be very nice. Very large downstairs area with all the usual features (food, booze, TVs, internet computers, comfy chairs), and a similar setup upstairs in the smoking area. Added bonus, free bedrooms ! (Small rooms with a single bed and nightstand. Only 5 available at a time).

The only staff I found that weren't as helpful as I would have liked, are the ones manning the Ticket Desk in the Main Departure Area. I get the impression they have to deal with a lot of ignoramuses every shift, and just try to get rid of people as fast as they can. Not sure if they work for Emirates or the Dnata service though.

Immigration ? Other than the line-ups, no problems. Never had a problem with any of the staff. Lines sometimes get held up by people with Visa papers not properly filled out (and then, after being sent back to do it right, they figure they can jump to the head of the line).

Buses from the plane to the terminal ? Well, I've had to do that in Bangkok, Dubai, Japan and Taiwan. Won't even get into some of the other places. Some times it happens. Big deal. After a long plane ride, Standing up for a few minutes shouldn't be a big deal.

You want crap airports ? Try Delhi. Or Cairo. If you think Dubai is bad, don't even contemplate Kabul (where they do have machine-gun toting guards everywhere, and even the locals avoid the bathrooms).