Travelling home for summer? Well if it’s on June 30-July 1 or July 7-9 get ready for queues, as Dubai Airport is predicting that over 250,000 people a day will fly in and out of DXB over those two weekends.

So yes, nearly 2 million passengers will pass through Dubai’s world-record busy airport terminals over those dates. This means the airports will be as busy as they were over the Christmas rush, which saw 256,000 passengers at Dubai International and Dubai World Central on Friday December 18.

Why so busy now? Well, school holidays begin on June 24, and Eid break is likely to fall on Wednesday July 6. This means many expats will head home for their summer break in this period, while many Emiratis will also take advantage of the long weekend to travel abroad too.

*ALSO READ: 8 great travel deals for Eid weekend*

If Eid weekend wasn’t falling on July 6 it’s likely this weekend would have been the peak travel period, but many people travelling home with children for a summer break will wait a week after school holidays begin so they can tack on the Eid public holidays to their leave.

It’s predicted that 900,000 passengers will fly over the weekend of June 30 to July 3 specifically, and because of that the airport will be putting on some special activities to keep travellers entertained, including giveaways, promotions, musical performances, sports screenings and more.

Here are some top travel tips to ensure a smooth Dubai departure…

– Be sure to check which airport/terminal you are departing from before leaving home. Check dubaiairports.ae for flight status.

– Aim to arrive early at the airport: leave three hours for check-in and immigration. Take into consideration daily rush hours in calculating your commute to the airport.

– Make sure all liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) in your check-in baggage are in a clear re-sealable plastic bag. Each item should not be more than 100ml, and the total content of all items should not be more than one litre.

– Take off all metal items – like watches, belts, etc, before you go through the security screening. Perhaps put it in your hand luggage before you even get to the security area to save time.

– Check in online (when possible) or use the self-service check-in kiosks in the departures hall.

Oh, and remember, you now pay a fee every time you fly out of Dubai airport (but it’s added to your ticket price so no need to worry about having cash in hand).

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