The seven and a half hour flight to Dubai seemed quite long. I suppose I was pretty tired after a day that had involved a Land Rover, a Cessna 'Grand Caravan', a BAe 146 and a B777-300 plus plenty of walking.
The aircraft to Dubai had reclining seats but not the increasingly-common 'Lie-Flats'. Eventually, we landed at Dubai and, as usual, the huge terminal was packed with passengers. Even the Emirates lounge was pretty crowded but I found a relatively quiet spot where I managed to get my Notebook computer attached to the Wi-Fi and do a little work before moving to the departure gate for the final leg back to Birmingham. This time, the aircraft was a B777-300ER and I was pleased to find it had 'Lie-Flat' seats so I cheered up a bit, despite the prospect of another long flight.
Just as Dubai is one of the more improbable locations in the world, where an ultra-modern city has risen out of the sand, so the huge airport has been developed in the desert to become a major hub very quickly. If predicted growth is achieved, I believe Dubai airport will shortly overtake London as "the world's busiest airport", although there are various claims according to how you measure it. As always, there's an interesting Wikipedia article.
We taxied towards our runway but had to hold for a few minutes whilst the preceding departure took off. Already, three more Emirates aircraft were queuing behind us. The terminal itself was shrouded in haze but a long row of Emirates aircraft, all wide-bodied and modern, were visible.
After a short wait, we took off for an uneventful flight to Birmingham. I transferred by road home after a most remarkable trip.
A few pictures of Dubai Airport are here. There's a useful Wikipedia article here.
