old.sparkles

Young spark wants to visit UK this spring (UK autumn) and one of the flight options is via DXB. He's going to be travelling on his own which is making me nervous enough, and the stop over times are quite short so worried about him getting from one flight to the other. Am I over worrying (quite likely)? Young spark is an adult but has Asperger's.

Pollyana

Hideous place, but as long as you book the flights all in one go, so its an advertised connection, he'll be fine. There are loads of staff around to direct people to gates, all the signs are in English as well as Arabic, and there will almost certainly be loads of people heading for the same connection.

If you really want to be sure though, having met Young Spark, speak to Qantas and explain you'd like assistance for him (and why), then they can make sure he gets escorted from one plane to the next.

old.sparkles

Thanks Polly - think I might do that

EvannTel

DXB is very big and very busy. There are literally thousands of people milling around. And as said its huge and can be disorientating.
But as Polly says there are loads of people around to help and very well signed.
If he is ok with the space and grounds shouldn't be an issue.
Only advice would be check connecting gate early and get there ready. On emirates you can actually check your connecting flight as you are inbound.
If flown through DXB loads of times and on a recent transmit made the fatal mistake of assuming based on past experience. Had to leg it in the end but that was my fault.

old.sparkles

Thanks for the advice - is the airport busy all hours? His first flight lands at 05.15 for onward flight at 07.45; return lands at 23.30 for onward flight at 02.05?

EvannTel

Yeah I'm afraid so, sometime I wonder if it's actually busier when you'd expect quiet time.

old.sparkles

Think Polly's suggestion may be the way to go then - for my peace of mind really.

EvannTel

Probably wise for my peace of mind too!

Pollyana

To be honest - having met him, I know he's pretty clued up and careful, but I think it would give you both peace of mind if you request some assistance. Just let the airline know the situation, and that its the first time he's done the trip alone. They were superb when I got assistance this year when I had difficulty walking and they should be able to keep a good eye on him
When you've booked the tickets and got the flight numbers, give them a call.

verystormy

I have been going through DXB every month. It is busy all the time and not the easiest airport in the world and they have a nasty habit of changing gates at the last minute.
However, Emirates are pretty good at helping people and if you speak to them in advance I am sure some assistance can be arranged.
The one thing to be careful of is timing. It can be a long way between gates for connecting flights.

Beoz

DXB is no problem. Easy as pie really. If you can, get on Emirates for the leg to Europe. They are now not flying over Iraq. Qantas still reckons its safe. Usually I don't give 2 hoots about this stuff but now there are long range missiles falling into the hands of rebel outfits who knows.

Kim67

We have used the services of Marhaba (https://www.marhabaservices.com), they were fantastic. They will meet and greet and help with transfers. They don't cost much. We used them when we first moved to Dubai, they met us at our gate with a golf buggy, the five of us got on board, they drove us to their lounge and showed us to a table with refreshments, they took our baggage tickets and passports (and took my husband off for his retina scan) while the kids and I sat in the lounge. A guy came back with our stamped passports and our baggage on a trolley and we were taken to our waiting car.

EvannTel

Ah ha! I'll blame it on that then, not my stupidity or inattention!
(Or too much time in the lounge supping)

spouse of scouse

Good plan Sparkles. There are also a few 'meet and greet' services advertised on Dubai Airport's website, if you think young Spark would be happier having someone with him right through the transit process. I get hopelessly lost there, even though I've been tons of times. Scouse, on the other hand, seems to have a built-in GPS thank God!

I hope young Spark has a lot of fun planning and anticipating his trip

sassie

We flew this route a few weeks ago and have done so several times. If possible, make sure he books both sectors using Emirates aircraft, as they use Terminal 3 at Dubai and therefore there will be no need to transfer to a different terminal for the connecting flight (I'm not sure what terminal Qantas use). You can find out departure gate for any onward flight before you land , which is quite handy, although sometimes, depending on how busy traffic is, they might disembark passengers at a remote stand, which means having to transfer 15 minutes on a bus to the terminal, this can eat into the connection time, and caught us out once, had to leg it to our next flight. Once inside the terminal though its pretty easy to find your way around. As you enter the terminal you will have to go through another security check and then just follow the signs or just ask the ground staff to point you in the right direction. Hope he has a good flight, Emirates are great and Dubai airport is not as bad as others have made out, its just very very busy.