Dubai International Airport is served by many international carriers including the awarded national airline Emirates Airways. The airport is around 15 minutes drive from the city centre and 10 minutes drive from the conference venue. International flights also are available to Abu Dhabi International Airport which is around 2 hours drive from Dubai.
The UAE has an excellent road system with wide highways linking the major cities. Speed limits vary, up to a maximum of 120 km/h on the main highways. Taxis are widely available and inexpensive. Car rental is also widely available and relatively inexpensive.
The UAE’s native language is Arabic while English is also widely spoken.
+971
The official currency of the United Arab Emirates is the dirham (abbreviated to Dhs or AED), with each dirham divided into 100 fils. The dirham is fixed to the dollar with 1$ = AED3.68. Credit cards are widely accepted and ATM’s are plentiful.
GMT + 4 hours
The working week runs from Monday to Friday. Most banks are not open on the weekend although ATM machines are available. Many shops and malls are open until the late evening.
Voltage is 220-240 volts, 50 cycles. Plug sockets are mainly British style 3 pin type ‘G’ but European style 2 pin type ‘C’ sockets are also in use.
Dubai has an arid desert climate- extremely hot and humid in summer, pleasantly warm in the winter. Although the fierceness of the summer heat starts to decline during September, days are still hot with temperatures usually in the upper 30‘s Centigrade (upper 80‘s Fahrenheit), so good for sunbathing on a beach or relaxing around the pool. The evenings are very warm and usually still rather humid so there is no need for coats or pullovers if you are outside, but a pullover or wrap is useful for the coolness of air conditioned interiors. You are extremely unlikely to see any rain during your stay, just 12 hours of sunshine.