10 Amazing Facts About Dubai’s Airports You Probably Did Not Know

It’s no secret that Dubai is home to some of the world’s most popular tourist attractions and luxury destinations.

But did you know that you’ll be blown away by the city’s opulence as soon as you land here?

Yes, we are talking about the Airports of Dubai! Living up to the splendour and magnificence of the city, your grand ‘sightseeing’ journey will begin sooner than you expect it to if you touch down at Dubai’s main airport (more on this later).

In this article, we will take a deep dive into some amazing facts about Dubai’s Airports. This blog post will be both eye-opening and informative so be sure to fasten your seatbelts (pun intended!)

Dubai has 2 Major Airports

Over the years, Dubai’s population and neighbourhoods have exploded as more and more people choose to visit or move to Dubai. In order to keep up with the influx of people, an unprecedented number of developments have graced the city stretching from corner to corner.

It only makes sense that one of the world’s most popular destinations should have more than one airport.

Dubai is home to 2 Major airports namely Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central (DWC).

While there are major plans for DWC to become a future hub of passenger and cargo transport, Dubai International Airport is still firmly the main airport.

DWC is on the outskirts of the city and is not yet very convenient to use.

Dubai’s Main Airport has 3 Terminals

Dubai International Airport has not 1 or 2 but 3 terminals to cater to the sheer demand of the number of air carriers who fly to the city.

You’re probably looking for more details about each of the aforementioned terminals. In that case, keep reading ahead!

Dubai Airport’s Terminal 3 is Exclusively for Emirates Airlines

Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3 is exclusively dedicated to flights from one of the world’s leading airlines Emirates Airlines.

Emirates Airlines is headquartered in Dubai and is a subsidiary of the Emirates Group. Established in 1985, the airline operates 3600 flights per week to 80 countries as of 2019.

An entire terminal dedicated to one airline! How often do you see that?

You Can Take the Metro to Terminal 1 & 3

Solid public transport is one of the backbones of Dubai’s infrastructure and success as a tourist destination. So it should come as no surprise that you can take the Dubai Metro to and from Terminals 1 and 3.

If you are landing in Terminal 2 which is located about 5 km away from Terminal 1, you will have to take the free shuttle to Terminal 1 or you can directly take one of the abundantly available cabs waiting outside the airport.

Dubai Airport has Free Wi-Fi all Over

The first thing we do when we land after a long flight is go looking for an internet connection so that we can catch up with all the notifications we might have missed.

Forgot to get a roaming plan? No need to worry as all terminals of Dubai International Airport are equipped with absolutely free Wi-FI.

You can use the Wi-Fi for unlimited time and no, there is no password required. That’s what you call a win-win situation!

Need Parking? They Have Got Your Covered

All 3 terminals of Dubai International Airport offer short-term and long-term parking.

Terminals 1 & 2 have 2 parking lots each called premium and economy with the former being closer to the terminal while parking in the latter means you might have to walk a fair bit (10 minutes).

30 minutes of parking in Premium Terminal 1 costs 30 AED while an hour in Economy Terminal 1 parking will set you back 25 AED.

1 hour of parking in Premium Terminal 2 costs 30 AED while an hour in Economy Terminal 2 parking will set you back just 15 AED.

Terminal 3 has only one parking which costs AED 30 for 30 minutes and AED 40 for up to 2 hours.

You can learn more about daily parking fees by clicking here.

Now that you are aware of all the important facts with regard to Dubai’s Airports and what to expect when you land in the city, let's take a closer look at some mind-boggling statistics.

Dubai International Airport is Busy (Like Really Busy!)

Dubai International Airport is the world’s busiest airport by international passenger traffic. It is also one of the busiest cargo airports in the world.

The Airport handled a stunning 88 million passengers, 2.65 million tonnes of cargo and registered 409,493 aircraft movements in 2017.

While the numbers have reduced slightly due to the Covid Pandemic, it still recorded an impressive 66 million passengers in 2022.

Dubai International Airport is BIG in Terms of Size too

Spread over a whopping 7200 Acres of land so that it can accommodate all the passenger and aircraft traffic, Dubai International Airport is huge, to say the least.

It is the busiest airport in the world for Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 movements which are some of the most impressive aircrafts in terms of size.

Remember the Emirates Exclusive Terminal 3 we talked about?

It is the second-largest building in the world by floor space and the largest airport terminal in the world.

Even the Dubai Airport breaks world records in true Dubai style.

Dubai International Airport’s Total Capacity is Incredible

The Dubai International Airport can handle 90 Million passengers annually. Given that 88 Million passengers either travelled to or had a connecting flight via Dubai in 2017, the capacity could be breached very soon.

The massive traffic translated to 7,700 weekly flights operated by 140 airlines to over 270 destinations across all inhabited continents as of 2017.

And Finally, Dubai International Airport Greatly Contributes to the Country’s GDP

With so much passenger traffic, it makes sense that Dubai International Airport would have to employ an enormous number of people.

Over 400,000 people were said to work there as of 2014 and it contributed US$26.7 billion to the economy, which represented around 27% of Dubai's GDP and 21% of the employment in Dubai!

These numbers are sure to have changed over the past 9 years but this is the most recent data available on the topic.

Conclusion

So there you have it! Everything you wondered about Dubai’s airports but didn’t know in addition to some truly surprising facts. Dubai International Airport is certainly a sight to behold and one of the biggest contributors to the city’s continuous success.

Having travelled to and from the airport several times ourselves, we can confirm that it is always a smooth and quick process despite the massive traffic it receives daily.

With free Wi-Fi, several lounges, uncountable eating outlets, and duty-free shopping to keep you company, you could spend hours at the Dubai International Airport without being bored. It’s almost like you wouldn’t want to leave!

That’s it from us for now at Wise Move . Until next time and as always - choose wisely.