Arrival

Unless you’re travelling overland from neighbouring Oman or sailing in on a cruise ship, you’ll arrive at Dubai’s sparkling modern international airport close to the old city centre – at least pending the opening of the new Al Maktoum International Airport.

The airport (enquiries 04 216 6666, dubaiairport.com) is very centrally located in the district of Garhoud, around 7km from the city centre. There are three passenger terminals: Terminal 1 is where most international flights arrive; Terminal 3 is where all Emirates airlines flights land; and Terminal 2 is used by smaller regional carriers. All three terminals have plenty of ATMs and currency exchange booths, although if you want to rent a car, you’ll have to head to Terminal 1.

Both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 have dedicated metro stations, offering quick and inexpensive transport into the city. Alternatively, there are plentiful taxis (although note that they charge a 20dh flag fare when picking up from the airport, rather than the usual 3dh) and various buses (see dubai-bus.com), although these are only really useful if you’re staying in Deira or Bur Dubai and know where you’re going; note that (as for the metro) you’ll have to buy a Nol card or ticket before boarding the bus.

Al Maktoum Airport

Due to open for passenger flights at the beginning of 2014, the vast new Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) is located some distance south of the city, around 15km inland from Jebel Ali port, roughly 22km by road from the marina and 50km from the old city centre. It’s designed to supplement the existing Dubai International Airport rather than replace it, meaning that services to the older airport should continue more or less as before, although details of how it will all work in practice are, at present, necessarily thin on the ground. From a practical point of view, however, unless you’re staying at Dubai Marina, the old Dubai International Airport is likely to prove a far more convenient place to land than its new rival.