By Air, Dubai

Nearly everyone coming into Dubai arrives by air at Dubai International Airport, DXB. We're often asked on the Forum how far the airport is from the city, in fact it's in the city, being only about 7km from downtown Dubai.

There are three terminals, Emirates airline using the vast newT3 exclusively.

There is a huge Duty free section for all your needs on the way in and out.

Getting to and from, there are Metro stations in T1 and T3. Taxis are plentiful from the official, clearly signposted taxi stand and there are larger people-movers and ladies-only taxis available. Flagfall from the airport is AED20 and fare is AED1.71 per km.

Dubai Airport - Terminal 3

The terminal is ultra modern and gave us a good first impression of Dubai.We booked our stopover through Air Emirates and were greeted before Passport Control and given our welcome package.The entance through customs was easy and fast . There are lots of ATM's and Money exchangers. The metro we learned later , also stops at this Terminal.
We had our transport to hotel arranged through our stopover package. The airport is only 15 minutes from downtown.

Air Emirates Flight

The seats were comfortable and reclined more than others I have seen which was nice but the legroom was cramped.Their website is helpful and user friendly with easy online check-in. Tons of movies with a screen at each seat . Although their was lots of food , I found it to be very cheese laden and buttery and too rich for a long flight.
The service was friendly and the flight was ontime.

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Unless you are blessed with wealth, you will probably enjoy most of your travels across the world in Economy – also know as “Cattle Class”. The best airline in the world for those reasonable airfares is EMIRATES.

Why Emirates is better:

· Best Flight Crews in the air
These people pride themselves on being friendly. They are happy to be there, happy to see you and it shows. No request is a problem.
· Comfortable seats
The interiors are always new, you always get a pillow and a blanket, and seats are plush.
· Free Unlimited alcohol
Anything you want and the crew don’t hassle you if you want to drink a lot of cold beers, wine, whiskey, whatever you choose.
· In-flight entertainment
You can watch about 10-15 brand new movies and you can pause movies so you can go on your travels inside the plane. Also have the forward and underside cameras to watch takeoffs and landings just like you were in the cockpit
· Hot face towel when you get onboard.
Really nice if this is not your first flight of the day
· Good food
No airline has great food, but everything is good and the food is recognisable.
· Company ethos
The whole airline is based on the Arabic concept of hospitality. You are treated like a Prince or Princess regardless of how much you paid.

Emirates flights are sometimes $30-100 more than other airlines roundtrip prices, but the service you get is priceless and the rest you get makes your first day of holiday that much better.

EMIRATES. The best. The end.

The many construction activities in Dubai can been seen from a plane best.
Take a tour with the Seawings seaplane, taking off from Jebel Ali harbour to see the both palms, the world and all the other mega projects.

When old Cliffie first flew into Dubai 25 years ago, Emirates didn't even exist. Now, it's one of the world's leading airlines, with services throughout the Gulf region and worldwide to Europe, Africa, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. And on 1 June 2004 it added North America to its network, when it started a nonstop service to New York. Fine wines and award-winning cuisine are only part of the smooth in-flight service. Emirates is also the airline which has placed the largest order for the new double-decker Airbus A380, the first of which should be delivered in 2008.

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Emirates Airline is the best airline to get to Dubai, you can fly direct from most UK airports such as London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, and more. Emirates are known for the excellent service from staff at check in to actually being up in the sky. They have a choice of in flight meals to choose from and a drinks service throughout the whole flight plus a full entertainment system including back seat televisions.

If your lucky enough you can get a free upgrade to Business class which we got coming home from Dubai. It was excellent, lots of extra legroom, reclining seats and a nice meal and drinks including champagne. You also get a wide range of movies plus games and television programmes.

Visited Dubai airport on a stopover in February/March 2007. Maybe because I had so high expectations of stories heard about great shopping at Dubai airport, but found it a bit disappointing. Yes, there's more to do and spend your waiting time then e.g. at a middle sized airport in Europe or a large airport in the US, but the price level and assortiment is not that special. If you have a Diner's creditcard, you might want to visit the lounge though. Lots of nice food items.

Sharjah airport is International and the base for Air Arabia, one of the few budget airlines in Middle East. I used it to fly from UAE to Sri Lanka
It is bizzarre domed ageing structure (like a mosque) that needs reconstruction if they want to compete with Dubai's airport. Luckily all procedures are straight forward and there are no big queues.
To get there from Dubai your best option is a taxi which as far as I can remember was around 15 EUROS.

The busiest airport in the middle east and the home airport of Emirates airlines. Despite it's celebrated I find it always modest and kitsch with all the plastic palm trees, UFO like illumination. There are not many available seats and so many passengers on long transfers are seen sleeping on the carpet. Apart from that if you are a smoker you'll find yourself in tiny smoke-chambers unable to enjoy even a coffee.
Luckily the airport is not so huge to navigate and you can easily find your way to the gates.
The famous duty-free section in a lower lever is busy 24hrs!! as many connecting flights from Europe arrive here in the middle of the night. I can't really tell you if it is worth buying from here. I am always checking on electronics and I have the sense that on-line shops are cheaper than this.