Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis read with interest this week about the new ten part National Geographic Channel series based around the Dubai International airport. The series, which will launch in September, takes an in depth look at what it takes to keep Dubai International up and running.
As the world’s second busiest airport, Dubai International is an enormous facility. With more than 344,000 flights per year, 57 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of cargo passing through it each year, the airport requires 60,000 staff to keep everything secure, safe and on schedule.
The National Geographic series, entitled ‘Ultimate Airport Dubai’ will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes footage that has never before been seen other than by those working at and for the airport. Christoforos is excited at the prospect, commenting:
“Dubai International has an excellent reputation. It’s amazing how many passengers travel through it every day – the coordination it must take to ensure that everything runs smoothly is mind-blowing. I can’t wait to see the new series and gain a better understanding of how it all works.”
Boryana Shehtova, Christoforos’ wife, is also interested to see Ultimate Airport Dubai, adding:
“It’s the human element that I find most fascinating and the series promises to leave no stone unturned, from Customers interrogations to cross customers. It should be an interesting insight into the everyday exchanges that take place in order to run such a massive facility.”
Boryana is not wrong about the airport’s size. With three terminals, one of which alone measures the same size as 359 football pitches, the sheer space taken up by the buildings is extremely impressive.
Most travellers encounter only a tiny proportion of the staff team that it takes to run an airport such as Dubai International. The National Geographic series will open up viewers’ eyes to so much more than they would usually see, looking at everything from Air Traffic Control handling of emergency landings, to in-flight medical emergencies, to the elite skills operating in the hangar belonging to Emirates Airlines.
Dubai International is a growing facility. Currently a plane lands or takes off every 92.5 seconds and passenger numbers are increasing steadily – this July saw an increase of 6.1% over the same month last year, with passenger numbers totalling an impressive 5,310,361. Year to date passenger numbers have reached 37,972,464, up 15.3% on the same period for the previous year.
“The challenges of managing an operation the size of Dubai International is barely imaginable to most people,” Christoforos continues. “To keep every one of those passengers safe and secure, get them on to their flight on time and safely deliver their luggage to their destination is incredible. It will be fascinating to see some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the airport’s daily operation.”
Ultimate Airport Dubai will also examine the work that goes into maintaining individual aircraft, including the testing of the 18,000 engine components and plane repainting. For those who want to know more, the series will air on the National Geographic Channel from 5 September at 8.00 pm.
As the world’s second busiest airport, Dubai International is an enormous facility. With more than 344,000 flights per year, 57 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of cargo passing through it each year, the airport requires 60,000 staff to keep everything secure, safe and on schedule.
The National Geographic series, entitled ‘Ultimate Airport Dubai’ will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes footage that has never before been seen other than by those working at and for the airport. Christoforos is excited at the prospect, commenting:
“Dubai International has an excellent reputation. It’s amazing how many passengers travel through it every day – the coordination it must take to ensure that everything runs smoothly is mind-blowing. I can’t wait to see the new series and gain a better understanding of how it all works.”
Boryana Shehtova, Christoforos’ wife, is also interested to see Ultimate Airport Dubai, adding:
“It’s the human element that I find most fascinating and the series promises to leave no stone unturned, from Customers interrogations to cross customers. It should be an interesting insight into the everyday exchanges that take place in order to run such a massive facility.”
Boryana is not wrong about the airport’s size. With three terminals, one of which alone measures the same size as 359 football pitches, the sheer space taken up by the buildings is extremely impressive.
Most travellers encounter only a tiny proportion of the staff team that it takes to run an airport such as Dubai International. The National Geographic series will open up viewers’ eyes to so much more than they would usually see, looking at everything from Air Traffic Control handling of emergency landings, to in-flight medical emergencies, to the elite skills operating in the hangar belonging to Emirates Airlines.
Dubai International is a growing facility. Currently a plane lands or takes off every 92.5 seconds and passenger numbers are increasing steadily – this July saw an increase of 6.1% over the same month last year, with passenger numbers totalling an impressive 5,310,361. Year to date passenger numbers have reached 37,972,464, up 15.3% on the same period for the previous year.
“The challenges of managing an operation the size of Dubai International is barely imaginable to most people,” Christoforos continues. “To keep every one of those passengers safe and secure, get them on to their flight on time and safely deliver their luggage to their destination is incredible. It will be fascinating to see some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the airport’s daily operation.”
Ultimate Airport Dubai will also examine the work that goes into maintaining individual aircraft, including the testing of the 18,000 engine components and plane repainting. For those who want to know more, the series will air on the National Geographic Channel from 5 September at 8.00 pm.
