DXB design madness
 

After a very nice flight in F, we arrive last night at a remote stand. Can happen, I think. No biggie. Well guess what, it took an outrageous 30 minutes snaking through the ENTIRE airport grounds to finally end up at a gate we could enter the terminal.
And that was not it.
My connection left from the A gates which was almost an HOUR hike! Finding your way among HUGE crowds, pushing and pulling in the train, etc.
What idiot designed this mess of an airport??
If you think LHR is bad, go to DXB!

Welcome to Dubai :)

This is one of the major reasons why I stopped flying Emirates and fly with another airline ;)

Unnecessary inconvenience during transit in addition to the ridiculous prices they charge for their fares :rolleyes:

The purpose of an airport is to facilitate transferring passengers from point A to point B..... not turn it into a huge shopping mall.... Look at how simple is Muscat, Jeddah, and Kuwait Airport :)

I'd never go back to JED. Ever again. Ever. It's awful.

I thought you were back to EK again?

And tell me, are the number of people that pass through the airports you listed anywhere near the number of pax that pass through DXB?

Is this a joke?

Transferring between the North and South Terminal at JED requires a 21Km drive.

An hour to get to the A gates? I'm pretty sure it's never taken me more than 20 minutes!

EK says it takes up to 45 minutes.

I can do it in 15-20 min as I know the layout well and use the escalators instead of using the lifts like the noobs

However for a first timer at DXB , I can see it easily taking double the time

Possibly absurd queues at the security transit area - iirc, the F/J bus drop off at B/C has literally only 1 metal detector.

You said you were back to EK and were praising them not too long ago.

OP - unfortunately I cannot empathise as in all my years of travelling with EK I have never come to a remote stand!

Yes! I was indeed back to EK prior to my knowledge of increasing their fares. Last year I flew to KUL for approximately 135KD ^ Looking at the same route again, last week it was 220KD (almost double the price of last year,) and next week it is 188KD :eek: Why the sudden increase in prices over a short period of time? :eek: An incrase by 10 - 20% is understandble but 80 - 90%? That's too much! Anyways still I intend to fly EK until my silver membership expires (which should be pretty soon.)

Before some folks criticize me for posting the prices in KD, 1 KD is approximately $3.3 USD.

I have transited in Doha twice, and having explored the whole huge terminal, at least I don't have to take a train to transfer between terminals, so the transit experience in Doha is much smoother, however, I just dislike QR (and why would I love them since I didn't get my silver tier? :rolleyes: )

I have also experienced Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur airports, and despite those two airports being huge, I'd still prefer to use them over Dubai airport since they are less crowded and the natural atmosphere or environment is more beautiful there.

Oh and regarding trains in HKG and KUL, at least the gates there don't close 20 minutes prior to departure based on my personal experience with them, so I don't feel the need of a rush/jogging ^

Why would passengers transit in Jeddah rather than Riyad if they are flying Saudi Arabia Airlines?

Dear OP, you now understand why so many of us in this community hate remote stand.

Climb down the A388 inner FWD stairs, then the Passenger Stairs in the summer heat (120+°F). Then the 15/20 min bus ride ... The bus may be extra comfortable (and extra cold), it just ruins everything.
On top of that, if transit time is short, if you have some duty-free purchases to do, and if you have loads of 388 pax lining for security check ... you just swear "never again".

How are you so lucky...

It's pretty much a guarantee these days that the flight from DUR is a remote stand (in my last 6 landings in DXB I've gotten a remote stand.

On December 21 we were on the ground for 55 minutes waiting for air traffic control to clear our plane for takeoff on EK775 to DUR.

It's crazy...

I always wonder who is shopping there. These items are not really duty free because most often have to declare them with customs when landing at your final destination.