Dubai: Dubai Customs handled 2,800 travellers and 4,000 pieces of luggage per hour last month, with traveller numbers expected to reach 1.8 million between November 25 and December 5 this year.
These figures were announced during the opening of Concourse A at Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3, as Ahmed Musabih, CEO of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and the Director General of Dubai Customs, visited the airport to ensure its readiness to handle the increasing passenger numbers.
The opening of the new concourse is an important step to retain the busiest airport’s full operational capacity, with traveller numbers expected to reach 1.8 million, at a daily average of 164,000 travellers.
Musabih said Dubai International Airport is facilitating travel around the world by connecting the West with the East.
“Our smart and unique systems help facilitate and reduce travel procedures without compromising on security. Dubai dealt with 2.7 million items of luggage on board 11,382 flights last October, an hourly average of 4,000 items of luggage and 2,800 passengers,” Musabih said in a statement.
“This number will increase during the holidays, which means we are handling massive numbers that necessitate continuous improvement of smart systems and inspection techniques to ensure a pleasant travel experience for all passengers.”
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Kamali, Director of the Passenger Operations Department, said that his department plays an essential role in facilitating passenger traffic.
“When it comes to holidays and festive seasons, we have made further arrangements to cope with increasing number of passengers, which include increasing the number of inspectors,” Kamali said.
“We have 800 inspectors and our disruptive app, iDeclare, enables all passengers to declare their belongings ahead of their arrival at the airport, and this reduces the time needed to declare goods at the airport and inturn helps shorten the time needed for completion of customs procedures at the airport to only four minutes.”
He said that Dubai Customs’ second initiative is the smart I Box drive that reduces the time needed for handling precious belongings to only one minute, using the QR Code.
