ABU DHABI: Dubai Airports has broken all records in handling passengers with the opening of the 20th edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) this week. Dubai welcomed a record 650,000 passengers between January 2 and 4, up from the previous record of 638,000 between December 18-20.”
But despite the record load, it was smooth sailing. “We put on additional staff from the curb to the boarding gates. The busiest weekend in DXB’s history was managed well thanks to a lot of meticulous planning and preparations and close coordination between Dubai Airports and all stakeholders including Emirates and all other airlines, dnata, Dubai Police, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, and Dubai Customs, amongst others.”
He said Terminal 1 alone, which is undergoing a refurbishment, handled 97,000 passengers with every effort taken to minimise the passengers’ wait time. “The duration varied based on the time of the day; it averaged about 30 minutes for immigration and 15 minutes for security, while during off-peak time it is a matter of a few minutes. Over the past year DNRD has implemented smart gates and taken on additional staff to help improve flow.
