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Dubai International Airport is a delight in many ways, design like a Vegas Casino, and a crossroads at the center of the world. Transit is a breeze and the Metro link connects to all the key places. It would be nice if they would add an affordable transit hotel within the airport, the only option being the USD 200+ Dubai International Hotel, but this is nitpicking.
Really the only frustrating thing is finding the correct check-in hall. Emirates passengers have it easy – they have their own terminal, Terminal 3. Terminal 2 is budget airline FlyDubai, and “is used mostly by airlines coming in from Iran, CIS countries and those operating chartered flights.” Kandahar beckons.
Terminal 1 is for everything else, divided into halls A-G. The airport website and flight displays show gates but not check-in halls, and signage inside is not well done. Arriving from the Metro the best option is to go outside to see the signs for car drop-off, or to ask staff.
The Rapid Traveler had to hunt for his Swiss flight from Dubai to Muscat, Oman (MCT), the little-used extension of the Dubai – Zurich (ZRH) route. Thanks to heavy competition, it is typically a tidy USD 150 round trip.
Swiss has a dedicated check-in hall, more like a forgotten storage room. It is accessed by going outside from the main A-E halls, into F which houses Gulf Air and some other regional airlines, then through an unmarked side door to G. G is not even on the official maps!
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[…] food? No idea. After a 12-hour driving circuit of Oman and a Swiss connection back to Dubai, he was asleep at takeoff and did not wake until landing, primed for the experience […]
@Andre – shows how ignorant I am of Star Alliance. I have updated the post with the correct name. I did enjoy a solidly Swiss experience for the 45 minutes of the flight.
@Ivan – I have not yet had the experience of any of Moscow’s airports, each I hear, its own nightmare. My Russia roamings have been not yet gone farther west than Novosibirsk.
It’s not as bad as the confusion when you fly Turkish at Moscow’s VKO, with one terminal closed and the international terminal is in fact the wrong terminal to go to check in at…what a mess that was!
Swissair is long gone. Swiss or Swiss International Airlines is what LX is.
P.S.: I enjoy reading your posts. I subscribe to the general BoardingArea RSS feed.