With the first phase of flight operations from Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International proceeding smoothly as planned, Emirates is ready to launch the next phase from the new terminal today, 21st October at 14:00 hours.

After launching flights to countries on its GCC and Americas network in the first phase from the new terminal, the second phase sees Emirates launching flights to the rest of the Middle East and Africa, increasing operations to 99 flights every day, 37 per cent of all the airline’s flights. All flight numbers in the 200, 700, 800, 900 series and any extra flights on these routes will now depart and arrive at Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International.

The first Emirates flights in phase two are: Emirates flights EK903 to Amman and EK913 to Damascus departing at 14:00 hours. The first flight to arrive at Emirates Terminal 3 will be EK912 from Damascus at 14:50 hours.

In the first five days of operations, Emirates Terminal 3 has handled 86 flight departures, 87 arrivals and a total of 36,000 passengers. More than 47,300 pieces of luggage have been handled by the baggage system, which is the largest and deepest of underground systems in the world.

More than 4,000 customers have enjoyed the facilities at the Emirates First and Business Class Lounges, while the Marhaba Lounge welcomed in excess of 250 passengers.

Dubai Duty Free, which operates 8,000 square metres of retail space in the new terminal, has reported healthy opening days’ sales, with perfumes and gold being amongst the favourite items for shoppers arriving to and departing from Emirates Terminal 3.

Commenting on the first week of operations from Emirates Terminal 3, Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “Emirates maintained schedule integrity, the baggage systems proved robust, passenger services were exemplary and we have received excellent feedback from our passengers. We could not have asked for a better opening week and we hope to move our entire operations to Emirates Terminal 3 by December this year.”

Both Emirates and Dubai Airports have committed dedicated teams to assist both passengers and staff at the new terminal. Around 100 Dubai Airports staff sporting large ‘May I Help You?’ badges are on hand, ready to help passengers as they enjoy the facilities and embark on their journeys.

Passengers who arrived at the wrong terminal for their flights were quickly and conveniently transferred by Dubai Airports’ shuttle buses to the right one.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, expressed satisfaction with the way the opening phase of transition of operations to the new facility was handled. “In short, the opening went as planned and we are happy with the results. But we won’t rest on our laurels; we are acutely aware of our objectives for the remaining three phases, as well as the greater goal of meeting and eventually exceeding the expectations of all Dubai Airports’ customers.”

Flights to Europe will take-off in the third phase, escalating operations to 168 daily flights or 60 per cent of all Emirates’ services. The fourth and final phase will include flights to the Indian Subcontinent, East Asia and Australasia, taking the total operations to 269 flights every day.