Dubai International airport

Hoping someone has some knowledge on dubai Airport.

Myself and my new husband are transiting through dubai on our way to New Zealand for our honeymoon, we have 1 1/2 hours from landing to the next one taking off, we have been assured this is doable but tight.

Does anyone know if we are likely to need to change terminals and do we need to go through passport control?

My husband is a worrier so getting as much info as we can before we go so hopefully he can relax a little.

And you folks know everything between you all thanks

You should be fine as long as you aren’t changing airlines. Say emirates -> emirates is easy. No need to go through customs or anything like that. It’s an efficient place

On paper doable

It’s working well again after the floods was through a couple weeks ago.

Check what the official minimum recommended transit is. I assume your on a single ticket flight with the same /partner airline as opposed to a Skyscanner special.

Both important details against what responsibility the airline has and your insurance doing anything should there be any form of delay.

You won’t need to go through passport control, you’ll go into a transit section after you get off the UK leg. When we went to NZ we didn’t change terminals and think it would be the same for you. It was just a case of into the transit queue and through to the departure area. 1 1/2 hour sounds ok it would only be if there was a delay with baggage that it might cause an issue with that. Been through DBX a few times and it’s been really smooth every time.

Last time I went through Dubai on way to Nairobi, the walk was about 50m to the next gate and took about a minute.

I’d say you’ll be perfectly fine, same as transiting everywhere really (except USA).

Last time we went through DXB, our inbound flight was late (thanks to Manchester airport) which left the transit to the next flight very tight. However we were met at the gate as we got off the plane by Emirates staff and were ushered through the airport using a vey odd route, through locked doors and corridors and all sorts of shortcuts until we got to our connection gate. No problem, we were perhaps one of the last on the plane, but without the Emirates usher, we wouldn’t have made it. ………Only issue and perhaps you don’t want to hear this, our luggage didn’t catch the flight. (we subsequently kept track of it via the AirTags). It pays to have some simple spare clothing in your hand luggage as your delayed bags catch you up. That said they did it efficiently and the bags arrived at our hotel the next day.

As above there’s more chance of you making it than your luggage

I thought if you have a connecting flight the airlines have a duty to try and get you there

Done Manchester to Sydney with a 1 1/2 hour connection a few times, no problems in Dubai airport other than massive brain fog depending on whether you’ve slept on the inbound leg. It’s worse coming back after the long leg.

Booking a room and having a layover is worth it for a shower/snooze/attempt at getting human again if you have the luxury of time & money.

Yep. Did Emirates from Oz to UK in 2022 and they had staff actually blocking wrong turns and making sure you went to the correct gate. All very efficient…somewhat contrasted with the Heathrow shit show.

You may have to change terminals, so use the info on the plane and ask the staff on the plan what gate you will be landing at. Make a little noise and they may help expedite you off the plane.

If they’ve sold you the tickets they need to get you there so they are motivated to put you in the seat booked and not put you up in a hotel until they put you on another seat on a different plane. Everyone will be working to get you there.

As as is good practice anyway, pack a change of clothes in your carry-on in case you are waiting for your bags to catch up with you at your destination.

Enjoy NZ.

Amazing, thank you all!!

We are Emirates in and out so as mentioned hopefully that will help. We’re going to try and book seats near the door for a quick exit off the plane to help, will use the tip of mentioning it to the staff on the plane see if they can help too.

As others have said if you’re on an Emirates ticket all the way through you should be fine.

My experience of a tight time and a slightly delayed inbound was being met by a member of staff with a clipboard with the connecting flight number on. She then RAN(!) through the terminal and delivered us to the gate.

Not sure what we would’ve done if we lost her, she wasn’t hanging around 🤣

As long as you are on a single emerates ticket (not self connecting) it’ll likely be fine. If the connection is a common one with more than half a dozen people on the flight they’ll hold it for a small delay to get you on.

You’re fine on Emirates – they’ll look after you. (Emergency) door seats are worth trying to get for the added leg room alone. Do not underestimate how long the flight is – decent noise cancelling headphones are worth their weight in gold for these length flights. I’ve also worn inner ear plugs with a second pair of industrial ear defender’s over the top – I absolutely hate the constant droning of the engines.

Jealous / not jealous!

I fly with Emirates all the time to the far east where I have to transit through Dubai.

1.5 hr is pushing it a bit but doable, provided there is no “traffic jam” along the way. i.e. many arrivals.

You need 2 hour minimum because it is a huge airport and there will be plenty of security check and queues along the way.

I normally have 3.5 hr to 4 hr just to relax a bit like buying tobacco and polluting my lungs in the smoking lounge, then I people watch.

By the way, I fly Emirates Economy only from UK to the Far Eat as cheap as possible, and I prefer to break my journey to hang around the airport just to observe people which is rather relaxing.  My usual route is from Newcastle -> Dubai -> Far East

Oh yes, I have to change terminal.

Yeah – you’ll be fine.  As others have said – let them know on the plane about tight connections, at a minimum they have a team member there to usher you through, and they’ll hold the flight until you are on anyway (assuming you only need a few extra minutes).  I’ve seen announcements to allow people with very sort connections off the plane first too….. the point is – it’s for them to manage.

Dubai-NZ is a long flight.  We tend to avoid flying uk-Sydney through the Middle East in favour of the Far East, as the flight times are a bit more “even”, although less so now with all the various detours going on.

But frankly the idea of any flight without having to manage young kids sounds like a walk in the park.  Noise cancelling headphones are an essential though.

My usual route is from Newcastle -> Dubai -> Far East

Oh yes, I have to change terminal.

That’s cos the flight from Newcastle lands at a supermarket car park in Saudi in order to save money on the ticket for Geordies.

We’re going to try and book seats near the door for a quick exit off the plane to help, will use the tip of mentioning it to the staff on the plane see if they can help too.

We fly to DBX quite a lot now to see daughter #3 who is Emirates CC.

I’m still surprised at the small number of people at the e-gates after an A380 has landed….. There’s a LOT who are transiting and you’ll be in the majority!

I’ll ask Chloe if she has any tips for people transiting through DBX.

Do not underestimate how long the flight is

Not as long as it should be ‘cos they’re happy to fund Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by overflying sanctioned nations.

If you are concerned about the timings (which seem relatively tight), how about considering a concierge service – it’s not massively expensive (about £150) and they will ensure you get through without fuss. We did something similar for our honeymoon – we took an internal flight from Leeds Bradford to Heathrow for the outward flight to Kenya that had tight timings and a terminal change. The concierge simply whisked us through various short-cuts and fast-tracked us to get us safely on the flight. It was worth every penny.

This isn’t a recommendation as it wasn’t who we used, but this sort of outfit…
https://www.marhabaservices.com/ae/english/airport-meet-and-greet

I had a very stressful transfer at Dubai on a tight connection.  Arrived late from Mumbai on an Emirates A380 which parked up away from the terminal and they stuck us on buses (how many buses to unload a full A380?). I was last off the plane and then had a 15 minute bus journey to the terminal.  Transit security was chaos and when I got through looked at the board and my flight to MAN had closed.  Wandered up to the gate just in case and the Emirates lady who was just about to pack up and go whizzed me down the air bridge onto the plane and they closed the door behind me.  Then we sat at the gate for 90 minutes until the fog cleared!

But I’ve had plenty of great connections through Dubai so I’m sure you will be fine.