I am planning on doing a quick turb around in Dubai with my OWE. I believe the layover will be two hours. For the people who have done this with BA, do I need a visa of any type ? Will there be any customs or immigrations formalities ? Thanks !

I guess it would help to know what passport you travel on for visa requirements.

The passport I hold requires a visa I can obtain upon arrival in DXB.

[This message has been edited by francisliang (edited 07-09-2002).]

You can stay sterile and go through the transit desk. However, you might run into issues with BA if you don't have a visa. Since they get fined if you are denied, they do ask if you have one.

BA will not allow you to board at LHR without a Visa if you need a Visa.
I have a British Passport and do not need a Visa. I have done the turn around three times. Transit desk is always crowded and I have always gone thro immigration and customs which require less than 5 minutes. You can avoid the long walk up and down by hailing an electric cart. My last two trips it took me less than 30 minutes to return to the departure area. I am doing another turn around on 20 /21 July and will go the full circle
The terraces lounge is fine and better than the crowded Emirates lounge.It has 4 internet terminals, cappucino, good snacks and the usual liquor. Duty free is OK for alcohol and perfumes but electronics are more expensive than USA.

[This message has been edited by drbala (edited 07-09-2002).]

francisliang,

I posted a detailed report report about the quick DXB turn-around on BA this past March.

The long and short of it is that it is very easy to do. You do not go through formal immigration checks to get back to departures. I was able to get my return boarding pass in LHR before leaving, which helped, but the transfer desk is immediately after security. NB, the Terraces Lounge cannot issue boarding passes.

Enjoy. DXB is a great airport and a destination in its own right!

I did the quick turn around last April. I had a USA passport and was traveling in first class. I did not get a boarding pass in London, but when I arrived at the lounge, the staff said they would go to the ticket counter and get the boarding pass for me as the counter was not yet open, It took me a few minutes to figure out that one descends one level to the transfer desk instead of two levels to the arrivals level. Still must go thru security at the transit level. As for the duty-free shopping, I was underwhelmed. Few if any Sony products (looking for the noise-cancelling ear phones),

The best buy in DXB is gold but at the gold souk, not at the airport. If you're in the market for some gold, the stopover pays for itself. I bought a 22 karat men's necklace for about US$500 and had it appraised here for US$1,800. If you like to haggle, you might be able to negotiate with the airport gold vendors. Try to get a price per gram near the current (changes daily) price shown here. Figure another 5 dirhams or so per gram for the local design and fabrication effort.

BTW, if you do stayover, take drbala's advice and ride the cart in. It is a lonnnggg walk to immigration.

Even on passports that require visa ahead of time (not just on landing in DXB), you can stay steril and turn around within 2 hrs. I have seen this done LHR-DXB-LHR as well as HKG-DXB-LHR.

The immigration check at boarding may insist on appropriate passport or visa for onward travel (right to enter LHR or final destination if LHR is transit).