How are DXB terminals laid out and how do you move between them?
Terminal 1 has D Gates, Terminal 2 has F Gates, Terminal 3 has A, B and C Gates. On a single booking you stay airside; on separate tickets you clear passport control, collect your bags and check in again.
Dubai International (DXB) has three terminals, and the gate letters matter more than the terminal numbers because that is how the signage and your boarding pass refer to them.
The layout
| Terminal | Gates | Mainly used by |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | D Gates | Most international carriers |
| Terminal 2 | F Gates | Regional and low-cost operators |
| Terminal 3 | A, B, C Gates | Emirates, flydubai, United, Air Canada |
In short: Terminal 1 = D Gates, Terminal 2 = F Gates, Terminal 3 = A/B/C Gates.
Moving between gates
Inside Terminal 3, B Gates and C Gates are connected on foot; A Gates is a short airport train ride. Terminal 1 connects to its D Gates by a short airport train ride as well.
Movement between terminals is not a simple walk. If you have a connection that changes terminal, the practical advice is to follow the transfer signage and confirm the route with airline staff or a Guest Experience Ambassador when you land, because the routing depends on which gates you are actually using rather than on the terminal number printed on your ticket.
The part that actually catches people out
Whether you have to leave the secure area depends on how your flights were booked, not on how long your layover is.
| Your booking | What happens |
|---|---|
| One booking (through-ticket) | Transfer desks issue your onward boarding pass. Your bags are through-checked. |
| Two separate tickets | On separate tickets you must clear passport control, collect your baggage and check in again |
That second row is the expensive one. Two separately booked flights mean you re-enter the airport as a departing passenger — which means you need to be admissible to the UAE, and you need enough time to clear immigration, wait for bags, and check in again. Whether you are admissible is a question for the UAE authorities and your airline, and we do not answer it here; see can I leave the airport on a layover for the requirements and the official links.
If your connection is at DWC, not DXB
Dubai has a second airport, Al Maktoum International (DWC). It is 60 km from DXB and there is no airside connection between them. Transferring means clearing passport control, collecting your baggage, and then taking a taxi — or the Metro to Ibn Battuta and a dedicated bus onward.
Treat a DXB↔DWC connection as two separate journeys, not as a transfer.
A note on minimum connection times
Dubai Airports does not publish a minimum connection time on its transfer page, and we do not publish one either. Minimum connection times are set by airlines per route and per booking, and a number that is wrong by fifteen minutes is worse than no number at all. Ask your airline.
Related questions
One email a week: what changed in Dubai’s fares, rules and airport operations — and what we re-checked and found unchanged.
No archive page, no reposting — the full text stays here on the site.
Change history for this page
No changes since publication.
Every number on this page comes from a primary source and was last read on or after 2026-08-21. Fares, opening hours and rules change between our checks — if your plan depends on an exact figure, open the source and read today’s number for yourself. Sources used here: Dubai Airports. See the full changelog or every source we track.