Dubai
We arrived in Dubai at Al Maktoum International Airport which will be the largest airport in the world when complete, with an ability to handle 160 million passengers per year. Ramping up operations and handling only minimum traffic currently, we were the first private charter jet to land at Al Maktoum and were whisked through immigration to our waiting buses and escorted to Dubai marina for a traditional Dhow cruise. The city is in perpetual building mode, preparing for the World Expo in 2020. Guests among us who had visited Dubai as recently as a few years ago were amazed at the growth of this jewel in the desert. Though in the heart of the middle east, Dubai is a melting pot of east and west and feels quite western. Everything is new and there are superlatives aplenty here: the “tallest” building in the world, “first” seven-star hotel, world’s “largest” airport, among others.
