Dubai airport opens new Emirates terminal

The new home of Emirates, at Dubai International Airport, Terminal 3, has just been officially opened.

The maiden flight from the new terminal was bound for Doha, and carried 136 passengers, including 27 in the business class cabin.

Other flights operating from the new terminal service destinations including Bahrain, Jeddah, Houston, Kuwait, Riyadh and Sao Paulo.

Passengers had access to traditional check-in desks as well as self-service kiosks, while all baggage systems ran smoothly.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates chairman and chief executive said: "Today our customers tasted the fruit of years of planning, investments and commitment.

"While we were quite confident of the robust systems and facilities, today was still a day of reckoning and we are delighted that our operations worked as planned."

The second phase of Terminal 3's opening will include flights to Africa and the rest of the Middle East, while European services will commence in the third launch phase.

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