Dubai airport's humble beginnings: rare footage from the 1960s

Video clips of one the world’s busiest passenger airports have been released, showing its very different appearance in the 1960s

Standing in Terminal 3 ready to hop on a Emirates Airbus A380 to one of the hundreds of destinations, it's hard to imagine a time before the trappings of Concourse D and Dubai Duty Free.

But life at DXB used to be more sedate, as seen in Dubai Media Office’s sepia-hued 1960s throwback to the airport’s modest beginnings.

The video clip pans Dubai’s modest single terminal building and control tower. Next, grainy aerial footage shows little of the urban expanse of the city we know today.

Back on the ground, a trijet aircraft lands without the worry of dozens more flying in behind it.

Passengers are also seen braving the heat to board a Middle East Airlines flight to Beirut.

It's a far cry to the hustle and bustle of 2018, when 88.2 million passengers used DXB, helping it retain its crown as one of the world's busiest passenger airports. Last year, the destination also marked the milestone of serving its one billionth passenger – won by Arjun Jayaraman, 10, who was visiting the emirate with his family from Orlando, United States.