Dubai airline says more than 240 flights will leave Dubai on Friday; will deploy extra staff to cope with demand
Emirates Airline expects more than 80,000 people to travel on December 19 on over 240 flights as the pre-Christmas rush reaches its peak.
The Dubai-based airline said it expects this week to be its busiest of 2014, as travellers head home or abroad for the holiday season.
According to the airline's latest booking figures, passenger numbers on November 19, the busiest day of the festive period, will be 23 percent up on last year.
This year, top destinations out of Dubai include London, Bangkok, Mumbai, Singapore, Paris and Karachi.
Mohammed H Mattar, divisional senior vice president, Emirates Airport Services said: "With record breaking numbers of passengers flying with Emirates this week, it is our mission to make the journey as seamless and trouble-free as possible.
"We have deployed extra staff at the airport to assist our customers, and we ask all travellers to be aware of check-in and gate closure timings.
"They should also allow ample time to get through the various touch-points at the airport, as check-in and gate closure timings will be strictly followed to ensure flights depart on schedule."
Emirates reminded customers to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before flight departure, and plan extra time to get to the airport as there may be heavy road traffic during the holiday period.
Across the Emirates network, aircraft upgrades and frequencies have been implemented in order to cope with the high demand over the busy season.
Emirates currently operates over 1,600 weekly departures from Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3.
last year was a major nightmare and we almost missed the flight. huge traffic jams.
If the traffic is going to be up by 23% I would suggest getting there very very early. not sure if you can take baggage on the metro. If so I would suggest the metro.
