Dubai. Seven hours from London, and a second office for a lot of our clients.
Two airports handling private aircraft, a business district that empties and refills with the season, and roads where twenty minutes and an hour are the same journey at different times of day.
- 20+years in private travel
- Ownedchauffeur fleet in London and Manchester, a trusted global network beyond
- 24/7operations desk, one contact
- 3services on one itinerary: car, jet and yacht
In partnership with Harrods Aviation · Signature Aviation · SW Global
The essentials
Dubai at a glance
- From LondonAbout seven hours nonstopWithin range of large-cabin and ultra long range aircraft. See London to Dubai.
- Two airportsDXB and Al Maktoum (DWC)DXB is close to the city and still has private terminals. DWC is the main business aviation field, open around the clock.
- Cars in DubaiArranged, not oursOur own fleet is in London and Manchester, with a trusted global network everywhere else. Here we use operators we know, briefed the same way and reached through the same contact.
- The seasonNovember to AprilComfortable weather, a full events calendar and the busiest period for cars and hotels.
The two airports
Close and convenient, or big and unrestricted
Dubai International, DXB, sits inside the city. From its private terminals it is around twenty-five minutes to the DIFC in ordinary traffic and not much more to Downtown. Business aviation has not left it: private terminals still operate there, and for a short trip centred on the financial district it is often the quicker choice.
Al Maktoum International, DWC, out towards Jebel Ali, is the field most private operators now prefer. It is open around the clock with no aircraft restrictions, a very long runway and a cluster of private terminals, several of them purpose-built in the last few years. The trade is distance: about thirty-seven kilometres to Downtown, which is roughly forty minutes when the road is clear and closer to an hour into the DIFC at the wrong time of day.
Dubai has stated that it intends to move all airport operations to Al Maktoum over the next decade, with a new terminal under construction. For now both fields work, and which one suits you depends on the aircraft, the time of day and where you are actually going. We will say which, rather than defaulting to one.
The city
One long road, and everything hangs off it
Almost everywhere our clients go sits along or just off Sheikh Zayed Road, with Al Khail Road running parallel inland as the relief route that is not always a relief. The DIFC and Gate Village, Downtown and the Burj Khalifa, Business Bay, the Jumeirah beach hotels, the Palm, Dubai Marina and the residential districts at Emirates Hills and Dubai Hills are all strung along that corridor. Tolls on the main roads are collected electronically with no barriers, so nothing stops, but the direction of the peak matters enormously: inbound towards the DIFC in the morning and out again late afternoon.
The working week runs Monday to Friday with the weekend on Saturday and Sunday, and Friday is a short day. During Ramadan the working day shortens and the roads develop a sharp, predictable peak in the hour before sunset, which is the single most useful thing to know when planning a meeting schedule there.
Summer is the other constraint. From June to September the heat changes how people move: nobody walks between buildings, cars wait closer, and the car is kept cold and ready rather than parked five minutes away.
Journey times
By road in Dubai
| From | To | Typical |
|---|---|---|
| DXB | DIFC and Downtown | 20 to 35 minutes |
| DXB | Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina | 35 to 55 minutes |
| Al Maktoum, DWC | Downtown Dubai | 40 to 60 minutes |
| Al Maktoum, DWC | DIFC | 45 to 70 minutes |
| Al Maktoum, DWC | Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina | 25 to 45 minutes |
| DIFC | Abu Dhabi | 1 hour 15 to 2 hours |
Realistic ranges, not promises. Peak direction matters more here than distance does.
What people book
Why our clients are here
- Meetings in the DIFC over two or three days, with a car held rather than booked journey by journey
- Family offices and principals who spend part of the winter here and want the London arrangement repeated
- Airport collections at either field, met properly, with the aircraft tracked rather than guessed at
- Yacht charter out of Dubai Marina and the Gulf, arranged alongside the flights and the cars
- The winter events season: the racing at Meydan, the golf, the air show in odd-numbered years
- Onward legs to Abu Dhabi, Doha or the Maldives, arranged as one itinerary rather than three bookings
How we work here
The same service, four thousand miles away
One contact
The same person who arranges your London cars arranges these. You do not start a new relationship at the airport.
Arranged cars
Operators we know, held to the brief we set. We are honest that these are not our own vehicles or our own chauffeurs.
Flights arranged too
Aircraft to suit the range and the party, quoted properly rather than optimistically.
Nearby
Related pages
Start planning
Tell us about the trip
Dates, how many people, which airport your aircraft is using, and where you are staying. If you are going on to Abu Dhabi or the Gulf, say so and we will plan the whole thing.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Dubai
Are these your own cars and chauffeurs?
Our own cars and chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, and a trusted global network covers everywhere else. In Dubai we arrange cars through operators we know, to our brief, through your usual contact here.
DXB or Al Maktoum?
DXB if you are working in the DIFC or Downtown and your aircraft can use it: it is much closer. Al Maktoum if you are arriving overnight, flying something large, or staying out towards the Marina and the Palm. We will tell you which actually saves you time.
Is the private terminal at DXB still open?
Yes. Private terminals continue to operate there, even though most business aviation growth has moved to Al Maktoum. Dubai has said it intends to consolidate everything at Al Maktoum over the coming decade, and we will keep these pages current as that happens.
How long is the flight from London?
About seven hours nonstop, which is within range of large-cabin and ultra long range aircraft. See ultra long range jets.
Can you arrange everything, not just the car?
Yes. Aircraft, cars at both ends and yachts in the Gulf, through one contact. That is the point of using us.
We deal with problems before you know they exist