DXB Terminal 1 arrivals: Concourse D, meeting points and pickup steps

Which airlines arrive at Terminal 1 and Concourse D?

Terminal 1 is the terminal for foreign airlines at Dubai International. The Dubai Airports fact file says more than 50 international carriers use it. Their aircraft park at the D Gates, in Concourse D, which Dubai Airports opened in 2016 as the home for 60 international airlines.

Two big Dubai airlines are not here. Emirates flies from Terminal 3, and flydubai is based at Terminal 2. The terminal printed on your booking is the one to trust. Our guide to every UAE airport sets out which airlines use each DXB terminal.

Building	Gates	Who uses it
Terminal 1	D Gates, by airport train	More than 50 international airlines
Terminal 2	F Gates	flydubai and regional airlines
Terminal 3	A, B and C Gates	Emirates, plus some flydubai, United and Air Canada flights

How do you get from Concourse D to passport control?

By train. Dubai Airports says the D Gates are reached from Terminal 1 with a short airport train trip, and arriving passengers ride it the other way. The fact file adds that a new train station feeds a reconfigured airside arrivals route.

Follow the arrivals signs from your gate to the platform. The train takes you to the Terminal 1 building, where passport control is. Every D Gate arrival ends in the same Terminal 1 arrivals hall, so your chauffeur never has to guess which concourse you used.

Passport control and baggage at Terminal 1

Terminal 1 has fewer lanes than Terminal 3: the fact file lists 45 arrival immigration counters and 20 smart gates, against 72 and 40 in the Emirates building. A wide-body landing from the D Gates can therefore mean a longer queue at the desks. Residents, GCC nationals and eligible visa-on-arrival visitors can use the smart gates, but a family travelling with children goes to a staffed counter. Our Dubai arrival guide walks through who qualifies and what officers may ask for.

Terminal 1 has 8 baggage carousels, and Dubai Airports lists a porter service. Then comes customs, and the doors open into the landside arrivals hall.

What is in the Terminal 1 arrivals hall?

Dubai Airports refurbished the landside arrivals area of Terminal 1 with new food, drink and retail outlets. It also lists these services at Terminal 1:

• Travelex currency exchange.
• Car rental desks for Europcar, Dollar, National, Autostrad and Budget.
• A Jumeirah hotel desk.
• marhaba meet and greet, with a location in Terminal 1 arrivals.

Where does your chauffeur wait at Terminal 1?

Every D Gate passenger walks out through the same customs doors, and that is where to look. Your Assure chauffeur holds a name board in the Terminal 1 hall just beyond them and greets VIP guests in person. Turn your phone on at the belt: the exact spot inside the hall arrives on WhatsApp.

Give your flight number when you book. The pickup is timed to your real landing time, and your quote states how long the chauffeur waits after landing. If you booked marhaba as well, tell us. marhaba staff walk you through fast track to the arrivals hall, and your chauffeur takes over there. Our meet and greet explainer compares the two services.

Car parks A and B at Terminal 1

Private cars cannot wait at the arrivals kerb, because Dubai Airports has no pick-up area there. They wait in a car park. It lists two for Terminal 1.

Car park	Type	Walk to the terminal
Car Park A	Premium	2 to 3 minutes
Car Park B	Economy	7 to 9 minutes

The fact file lists 46 limousine bays and 30 bus bays on the lower level of Car Park A. Your chauffeur confirms which car park and level on WhatsApp, then walks you and your bags there from the hall.

Taxis, metro and buses at Terminal 1

• Taxi: Dubai Taxi runs a rank at every terminal, 24 hours a day, on the RTA meter.
• Ride-hailing: Uber, Careem and Bolt collect from signed pickup points.
• Metro: Airport Terminal 1 station on the Red Line sits beside the building. See the FAQ below for hours and the 2-bag limit.
• Bus: RTA buses leave from stands at Terminal 1 arrivals and take Nol cards only.

Terminal 1 is about 5 km by road from Al Rigga in Deira. The Red Line runs on along Sheikh Zayed Road to Downtown and Dubai Marina, and our Dubai Metro guide covers the stations near the main hotel areas.

Landing at Terminal 1 with an onward flight from Terminal 3

How you change terminals depends on your ticket.

1. One ticket, bags checked through: follow the Connections signs and take the airside shuttle bus to your next terminal. You stay inside the airport.
2. Separate tickets: clear immigration, collect your bags and pass customs. Leave the terminal, travel to Terminal 3 departures and check in again. You may need a UAE visa to do this.
3. Separate tickets, Emirates onward: Emirates offers a baggage transfer service at USD 90 per person, plus USD 20 for each extra person on the booking. It needs a connection of at least 3 hours.

For option 2, Emirates asks you to clear passport control and security 90 minutes before departure if you re-check bags. OSRM puts the road between the Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 car parks at about 9 to 11 km, 23 to 28 minutes. An Assure chauffeur can meet you in the Terminal 1 hall and drop you at Terminal 3 departures. Flights from Terminal 2 work the same way, and our Terminal 2 arrivals guide covers that building.

Terminal 1 to the main Dubai areas: drive times

These road distances and free-flow drive times run from the Terminal 1 car park. They come from the OSRM route planner on OpenStreetMap data, averaged over both directions. Expect longer at weekday rush hours.

From Terminal 1 to	Road distance	Without traffic
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Al Garhoud	about 4 km	6 min
Deira (Al Rigga)	about 5 km	7 min
Dubai World Trade Centre	about 12 km	14 min
Downtown Dubai	about 15 km	17 min
Business Bay	about 16 km	18 min
Sharjah city	about 17 km	20 min
Dubai Marina	about 33 km	31 min
Palm Jumeirah, Atlantis end	about 37 km	37 min
Al Maktoum International (DWC)	about 58 km	1 h
Abu Dhabi city	about 150 km	1 h 38 min

The same drives from Terminal 3 run a few kilometres longer. Fans flying in for the tennis can read our tennis championships visitor guide for getting to the stadium and back.

Book a Terminal 1 pickup

Send your flight number, the number of passengers and large bags, and your drop-off address on WhatsApp. A couple with 2 cases fits a Lexus ES 300h. A family of 6 with 4 cases needs a Mercedes-Benz V-Class, and the fleet pages list every model we run or source.

Our DXB pickup page covers all three terminals. If you need the car for the rest of the day, book the chauffeur service by the hour from the moment you land.