Dubai International Airport (DXB) is full of festive cheer as it prepares to welcome 7 million passengers during December with an exciting array of seasonal activities, promotions, prize giveaways and entertainment.

“Nearly a quarter of a million passengers will be passing through the airport daily during the seasonal peak and we want to ensure they start enjoying their vacation as soon as they reach DXB,” said Anita Mehra, senior vice president of Communication & Reputation at Dubai Airports. “We have an exciting line up of activities to delight and entertain our passengers, which will give the airport a truly festive atmosphere throughout December.”

Festive touches include a stunning Swarovski crystal tree, a gift-wrapping station, seasonal restaurant menus and festively decorated buggies. Children can build a snowman in the Kid’s Zone in Concourse B, while the entire family can participate in the interactive digital game ‘Find Pedro’ in Concourse D, with guaranteed prizes from a variety of popular food and beverage outlets at DXB. The musicDXB stage in Concourse B will feature carol singing from Dubai Duty Free Choir on December 15 and a special performance by X Factor Middle East winner Hamza Hawsawi on December 23. Last but not the least, the recently launched unlimited free high speed wi-fi across DXB will keep passengers connected to their friends and families and also allow them to make the most of their time at the airport.

With schools across the UAE closing for the holidays mid-month, Dubai Airports is anticipating near-record numbers in December with peak traffic anticipated on December 16, 17 and 22. As is the case during each peak traffic season, Dubai Airports, in collaboration with airlines and other partners at DXB is taking a number of measures to ensure passenger volumes don’t affect service.

Dubai Airports will augment staff levels and employ new passenger flow monitoring technology that allows the airport, airlines and control authorities to detect and deploy staff to areas of high passenger concentrations. Further, the airport’s new smart gate service, which allows the use of Emirates ID cards upon arrival and departure, will reduce immigration transaction times to 10-15 seconds and alleviate congestion at immigration points.

Dubai Airports has also issued holiday season smart travel tips to support passenger convenience during the holiday travel peak.

Smart Travel Tips:
• Travellers are advised to check which airport and terminal they are departing from/arriving into beforehand. Passengers can confirm with their airline or check www.dubaiairports.ae
• Arrive early at the airport. It is best to leave a minimum of three hours for check-in and passport control. Take into consideration daily rush hours and available routes in calculating your commuting time to the airport.
• Leave extra time for the journey to the airport as the roads will be very busy.
• Check with the airline in advance for information on baggage allowance. Irrespective of the allowance, a single unit of baggage weighing more than 32kgs will not be accepted at check-in. Passengers should expect to be charged for baggage more than the limit set by their respective airline.
• It is always simpler to pack liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) in the check-in baggage. However, those carrying LAGs in their hand luggage must make sure they are in a clear re-sealable plastic bag. Each item should not be more than 100ml and the total content of all items should not be more than one litre.
• Beat the queues by checking-in online or using the self-service check-in kiosks in the departures hall. Customers with baggage can make use of the quick-baggage drop counters, while those carrying only hand luggage can proceed directly to Immigration.
• Remember to put anything metal – watch, jewellery, mobile phone, coins, belt – into the hand luggage well before arriving at the X-ray machine. This will save time at security screening.
• UAE residents are encouraged to use Emirates ID cards at any smart gate which helps avoid queuing at passport control, both while arriving and on departure. - TradeArabia News Service