Diwali: Dubai Airports warns travellers of busy few days ahead of Indian festival

More than 550,000 passengers expected through the airport with officials urging people to say their goodbyes at home and arrive early at terminals

Dubai Airport is gearing up for a busy weekend. Christopher Pike / The National

Dubai Airport is gearing up for a busy weekend as residents head home and families travel to the emirate to celebrate the Indian festival of Diwali on Thursday.

Close to 550,000 passengers are expected to travel through Dubai Airports until Sunday, with about 137,000 travellers expected daily.

Passengers have been urged to plan ahead, make sure they are aware of regulations and leave plenty of time to get to the airport.

"Dubai International Airport is gearing up for a high volume of passengers this weekend on account of the Indian festival of Diwali,” said Essa Al Shamsi, vice president of terminal operations at Dubai Airports.

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"We urge them to get in touch with the respective airlines and ensure they have the necessary documents with the required validity.

"If you are travelling to India, please complete the Air Suvidha form [mandatory health self-declaration form] before arriving at the airport to ease your journey and help us reduce waiting time at check-in," he said.

"Say your goodbyes at home as only ticketed passengers will be allowed to enter the departure zone at terminal one during peak hours throughout the weekend.”

Passengers flying out of Terminal 1 have been advised to arrive at the airport no earlier than three hours before their departure.

Traffic between India and the UAE has picked up since travel restrictions eased in August, said Godly Babukutty, owner of Epic Travel In Dubai.

He said there was a larger than normal volume of passengers flying to and from India this week.

"Now since the restriction have eased there is a lot of traveling happening in the month of October," said Mr Babukutty.

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