Video: The team that helps you breeze through Dubai airport

Dubai - Dubai became the world's busiest for international passenger traffic in 2014 when it overtook London's Heathrow Airport.

There's a reason why Dubai airport is known for its hassle-free experience. Step inside the nerve centre of the world's busiest airport and you'll find a team that works like clockwork to monitor real-time passenger queuing information received from more than 850 sensors fitted in the ceiling at Terminal 1, 2 and 3.
Thanks to the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC), passenger-wait time was reduced by 28 per cent in 2018, compared to the previous year, despite record passenger numbers.
Dubai became the world's busiest for international passenger traffic in 2014 when it overtook London's Heathrow Airport. Since then the airport has maintained its top spot for five years in a row. Passenger traffic increased to 89.1 million in 2018 compared to 88.2 million in 2017. On a very busy day, the airport can have more than 280,000 people travelling through it with more than 120,000 bags.
The AOCC, launched on February 1, 2018, receives real-time data from across the airport - aircraft stands, baggage and terminals. The 10,000 square feet facility operates 24/7 and houses 120 staff that works in 12-hour shifts.
Damian Ellacott, vice-president, Airport Operations Control Centre, said: "All the controllers sitting in the AOCC have their own areas of responsibility - terminal, airside and baggage. There are tools and displays that they are all able to use."
The AOCC can calculate passenger-wait time and send out alerts in case of any delay or emergency. "There are four displays over here showing four different parts of the airport. The red dots show queuing passengers and the white dots show moving passengers. This system is very carefully calibrated so we can see the queuing status in different parts of immigration and emigration. We can understand how we can smoothen the flow of passengers, and how we might need to open more immigration desks, for example, to reduce queuing time when we see a particular build-up," Ellacott said.
The AOCC can also predict some hours in advance what the expected passenger numbers are going to be compared to the capacity of those areas.
"In areas where the actual volume of passengers is forecast to exceed the capacity, they get highlighted in an orange amber colour. There's an alert and then we are able to act on it," he added.
"We have the daily flight schedule, we know when the flights are arriving and departing and we know how many passengers are on each of those aircraft. We understand the passenger and baggage forecast and manage our operation around those passenger, baggage and aircraft flows."
The AOCC is also able to monitor weather conditions and send out alerts whenever there's any delay due to fog or bad weather.
Besides controllers, the AOCC also houses representatives from Dnata, Dubai Police, Dubai ambulance service and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
"What we want to make sure of is that the overall Dubai experience of passengers is as seamless and enjoyable as possible. So being able to anticipate if there's any road congestion, if there are problems with the Metro and just being able to manage an appropriate number of taxis available particularly at the busy times of the day is critical to making sure that the additional element of the passenger's journey is managed as effectively as possible," Ellacott added.
Next time you experience the pleasure of travelling through Dubai airport, you'll have greater appreciation for the people behind-the-scenes who make it possible.
nilanjana@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai