If you are a tourist arriving in Dubai then you will likely be looking to take public transport to get to your accommodation from the airport. Of course you can always get a taxi from the airport but you may also be wondering if you can get the Dubai Metro from the airport to your destination.
As you can see from the map, there are two metro stations that cover Dubai International Airport – One at Terminal 3 and one at Terminal 1. Terminal 3 is generally used for Emirates and a couple of other airlines and terminal 1 is used by most global airlines. There is also a terminal 2 which does not have a metro station attached to it which is used by some budget airlines and freight.
So if you arrive at terminals 1 or 3 then you are in luck and can get straight on the metro depending on what time you arrive.
However, although there is a shuttle service advertised to go rom terminal 2 to one of the other terminals, from experience this isn’t always running and you will likely have to get a taxi to terminal 1 or 3 to get on the metro. Both terminals are roughly the same distance away from terminal 2.
The metro operates at the following times:
Monday – the metro is open from 5am until midnight
Tuesday – the metro is open from 5am until midnight
Wednesday – the metro is open from 5am until midnight
Thursday – the metro is open from 5am until midnight
Friday – the metro is open from 5am until 1am the next day
Saturday – the metro is open from 5am until midnight
Sunday – the metro is open from 8am until midnight.
The first trains leave terminal 3 at 5.05am from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays the first train leaves terminal 3 at 8.05am.
The last train from airport terminal 3 on a Monday to Saturday is at 22:52 and on a Sunday it leaves at 22:55.
Therefore there are no trains running overnight and if you arrive between these times you will need to catch a taxi which are available 24 hours from the airport. Taxis are not expensive compared to some other cities but are still much more expensive than catching the metro.
If you are arriving late then don’t forget to leave yourself enough time to purchase a nol card for travel before boarding the train. You need a nol card for travel as you cannot tap in and out with a credit or debit card. You can get a nol card at the metro station if you don’t already have one and can top it up before you travel. Silver nol cards cost 25 dirham and 19 dirham of that can be used to travel so you can buy your nol card and get straight onto the train with enough credit to get you to your destination.
If you are travelling to the marina or JBR then you can change onto the tram at Dubai Marina. There are also a lot of hotels that are located near metro stations in Dubai but if your accommodation is not near a metro station then there are taxi ranks outside each station that can take you to your destination.
While you are in Dubai, the metro, tram, taxis and buses are a good way of getting around and are not expensive.
So getting the metro from the airport can be a good option if the timings work out well and will save you money which you may have to spend on taxis, as the distance covered by the metro is quite large. In addition to that, you will avoid getting stuck in traffic on the notoriously busy Dubai roads.