Ultimate Airport Dubai (2013) s01e06 Episode Script
Stranded
1
NARRATOR: Dubai International Airport,
one of the fastest-growing airports
on the planet,
- and aiming to be number one.
- Cleared for takeoff.
NARRATOR: But perfection is never easy.
AJOY: Final call, Emirates to Sydney.
PASSENGER OPS: Gatwick, Amsterdam.
NARRATOR: More planes
The flight has departed.
(crying)
NARRATOR: More passengers
Absolutely ridiculous.
I need extra manpower here
at transfer desk.
NARRATOR:
And massive construction just to keep up.
So much scaffolding everywhere.
Nothing is finished.
- NARRATOR: It's nonstop.
- (whistles)
If you don't love it,
it's just gonna kill you.
NARRATOR: 24/7.
I think it's stuck.
One, two, three, push.
NARRATOR: It's the job of 60,000 staff
from all over the world
It's either you can deliver
or you're out of the building.
NARRATOR: to make this
the ultimate airport.
Dubai International has invested
billions of dollars
in its infrastructure
over the last decade.
An ambitious airport needs vast terminals,
properly maintained runways,
and efficient computer-managed
baggage handling systems.
But more than these,
it needs good service.
Staff need to balance efficiently moving
millions of passengers
with knowing what to do
and how to be flexible when systems fail.
You're too late for the flight, my love.
NARRATOR:
It's 7:00 a.m. in Terminal Three.
You have to come on time!
NARRATOR: 168 counters are open
to check in thousands of passengers.
Arti Mehra watches the queues
and troubleshoots passenger problems.
Any passengers for Cape Town?
Hamburg? Geneva?
NARRATOR: Rush hour
is always a testing time.
They can get a little dozy
waiting in the queues for so long.
We have got a few passengers
who have missed flights today.
NARRATOR: And among them a German couple,
Mary Bruid and Michael Acte,
who missed their
8:40 flight to Düsseldorf.
- Yes, my dear.
- MARY: Are you the supervisor?
ARTI: Yes, I am.
We really have a big problem.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Missing a flight could mean
the fault lies with check-in
or with the passengers themselves.
The remedy will depend on who's to blame.
MARY: We need to go
this afternoon for sure
because he has surgery,
he is a doctor, his patients
All right. Okay.
You were on the 8:00 flight?
MARY: 8:40, yeah.
We had seats, we had everything!
- ARTI: Then?
- And they said,
it was one hour before even the flight,
they said it's closed.
ARTI: Closed for what?
MARY: Closed for To put on the luggage.
NARRATOR: Now the couple
are waiting and hoping
they can get on a later flight,
but Arti has already worked out
the airline is not to blame.
Sometimes some passengers
are just getting flabbergasted
for only reason that they came late
and they couldn't get on the flight,
or they haven't come to the correct area
to check in or whatever.
Then we just We're just firm.
Polite and firm with them.
NARRATOR: She realizes
that although the couple
checked in online, they failed to drop
their luggage in on time.
Airline rules state,
baggage drop-off closes
one-and-a-half hours before departure.
So obviously, they have gate no-showed,
and they have to be waitlisted
for the next flight.
Have you spoken to that
young lady on waitlist?
Yeah, and she said, we have
to come three hours before.
- What time is your next flight?
- At 2:00-something.
Okay, just wait here. I won't forget you.
- Thank you.
- Don't worry.
- I'll just take a seat there.
- Yeah, do that.
NARRATOR: The couple
are desperate to get home.
Their best option is
to be put on a waitlist
for the next flight to
Düsseldorf in six hours' time.
MARY: We have to get the flight today.
No, really, we have to work.
NARRATOR: Arti knows that
the wait-list for spare seats
is always a gamble.
Oh, the Düsseldorf flight is also full.
The next flight is also full.
If it's like that it's like that,
but it's not an option for us.
NARRATOR: Even with Terminal Three,
one of the biggest buildings on earth,
Dubai International is at capacity.
If it wants to attract more business,
it needs more space.
The solution is the
$3.2 billion Concourse A,
due to open in one month,
if a royal visit gives the go-ahead.
The building itself is finished,
but it's far from ready for business,
a monumental challenge for
Project Director Barry Lewis.
We're not sleeping at the moment.
The reality is is there's
a massive volume of work,
but we have got 18,000 men on the job.
We've got 150 different subcontractors
in different shapes and forms.
We've got committed staff.
We've got a client that is
pushing us, I mean, really hard.
NARRATOR: In one month, 20 departure gates
need to be working,
with lounges completed,
and the duty-free shops fitted out
and stocked with designer products.
But Barry is still correcting
basic construction snags.
BARRY: So, is somebody
dealing with this then?
There's a leak in the toilet through.
The guys know about it, they're onto it
and they're sorting it out.
They got H.A. in there now.
Is it a leak through the system,
or is it a waterproofing issue?
BUILDER: I think it's
a waterproofing issue at this stage, yes.
It goes without saying,
they need to get it sorted.
NARRATOR: Right now, Barry's
got even more to worry about
than leaking pipes.
His boss, the CEO
of the airport's engineering projects,
is coming to see if the concourse
will be ready for a visit
by a member of Dubai's ruling royal family
in one week.
My fear here is,
they will take forever to finish.
NARRATOR:
Suzanne Al Anani has a huge job--
Ensure a team of 18,000
construction workers
squeeze two years' work into ten months.
No leeway.
NARRATOR: Barry knows progress
needs to be monitored,
but he worries the visits themselves
can be counterproductive.
Obviously, when Suzanne visits,
she identifies certain
a couple of key things,
but behind that, there's a million other
things that need to be sorted out.
Off we go, guys.
- Okay.
- NARRATOR: Barry is worried
that visits don't focus on fundamentals,
but pick up on cosmetic detail.
You know, I get worried
when I see scaffolding
going, going all the way
to eternity, you know?
NARRATOR: With Suzanne concerned
about hitting the deadlines,
it's not helpful for Barry that
there seem to be no workers.
- You have enough people?
- Yeah.
Or it is coffee break again?
- Tea break and lunch break and whatever?
- It is teatime now, yes.
- Yeah, always it's teatime!
- Either teatime or lunchtime.
The whole site, all the bloody time,
teatime or lunchtime, you know?
Honestly!
NARRATOR: Suzanne is here
to oversee the wider progress,
but she also has a sharp eye for detail,
and for premium passengers
in the business class lounge,
carpets matter.
SUZANNE: This is typical!
This is a very high-profile
seating area, okay?
With the expansion joint
going through like this, you know?
This really looks really, really stupid.
Really stupid.
This is supposed to be part of the detail?
Typical. So, back to the drawing board!
NARRATOR: With time so short,
the last thing Barry wants is
to go back to the drawing board.
The visits can be disruptive
in the sense that,
they change People lose focus
and they start focusing
on the wrong things.
I'm reasonably comfortable that we're
going to get where we need to do,
provided we maintain the focus
and we keep people
working in the right places.
NARRATOR: Next stop, the departure gates,
perhaps the most important
functional part of an airport.
Suzanne wants just four
of the total 20 gates
to be working next week
for the royal visit,
and they are far from functional.
The first group of gates,
it has to be ready
and still you see quite a lot of work.
This is where you have the transfers,
this is where, you know,
the heart of the operation
which is going to start,
still should be given more attention
than the other ends, you know?
- No, we understand.
- SUZANNE: Yeah.
NARRATOR: It's not looking good
for Barry or the airport.
Really, really, it is very worrying
because I look everywhere,
so much missing here,
so much missing there
- I feel very uneasy, you know.
- BARRY: Yeah.
So many crates, so many boxes,
so much scaffolding everywhere,
nothing is finished.
I don't consider anything finished.
NARRATOR: In its current state,
it will not pass the royal inspection.
If it doesn't come up
to scratch in one week,
it will reflect badly on everyone,
especially Suzanne.
Passengers who don't understand
what they have to do, or where to go,
are a constant challenge for the airport.
Many of the 57 million people
passing through Dubai International
every year
are in transit, connecting
to another destination.
It doesn't always go smoothly.
Usually, an airline can find a solution,
but sometimes it becomes
an issue for the airport itself.
Khalil Al Janahi deals
with stranded passengers.
I'm trying to always be
the middle negotiator.
I don't get involved
in the airline's business.
I don't get involved
in the passenger's business.
I'm like in between both
and trying to satisfy both parties.
We have an issue with three passengers.
They're stranded in the airport.
We don't know yet.
I'm going to find out
what the exact problem is
and coordinate with the airline concerned.
So we'll check it out.
NARRATOR: Khalil's headed to
the terminal's police department
where the stranded passengers are waiting.
KHALIL: Okay, so what's the problem?
- And Dubai going to where?
- PASSENGER: Amsterdam.
KHALIL: Amsterdam, okay.
NARRATOR: The family are traveling
from Pakistan to Amsterdam,
but missed their
connecting flight in Dubai.
- KHALIL: You have no money?
- No money.
- KHALIL: Nothing whatsoever?
- PASSENGER: No.
KHALIL: Okay.
Basically, these three passengers,
according to their version
of the story is,
is that they came into Dubai,
supposed to connect another flight,
and they missed the flight.
So Emirates is asking them to pay
a heavy fine for the tickets,
so I'm going to investigate
with EK with Emirates Airlines
what the problem is.
NARRATOR: With no money to pay the fine,
the family are stranded in Terminal Three.
Khalil's first job,
find out why they missed their connection.
Can you investigate why
these passengers offloaded
and they're supposed to connect to 147?
The comment is,
"Bags offloaded due to gate no show."
Gate no-show, okay.
According to staff here,
they're a gate no-show.
A passenger no-show at the gate.
It could be they didn't know
where the gate was,
or again, because
they don't speak English,
they only speak Urdu,
so they probably got lost in the airport,
so they missed the flight.
So this is what the problem is now.
Now, I'm going to see,
how much the fee is, is it high or low.
Sometimes, the airport services manager
can waive it and sometimes he can't.
I have checked now if they can waive it.
NARRATOR: If Khalil can convince
the airline to ditch the fine,
the family could be on
the next flight to Amsterdam,
leaving in one hour.
If he can't, they're still
stuck at the airport.
8:25 departure.
I'm racing against time,
and if I get them this flight
within ten minutes
they're gonna go.
NARRATOR:
Airports run to a rigid schedule.
If passengers turn up late,
they forfeit their seats,
and it's airport staff
who must pick up the pieces
and find them a new flight.
Mary and Michael
missed their morning flight
because they turned up late.
Now, five hours later,
they're still waiting for a new seat.
So they want to take
a chance on the flight,
so we have a specific counter,
a special counter for waitlist passengers.
So they come, they they're checked in,
they're given a standby number,
and sometimes they're lucky,
they get on the flights,
other times they have to wait
for the next flight.
MICHAEL: We don't care where in Germany,
just get us to Germany.
Doesn't matter, you know.
There are a lot of airports there.
They have like three flights
going the same time.
Just put us on one of them.
NARRATOR: The next flight
is in one-and-a-half hours.
It's looking 50-50.
We'll give it our best shot.
It's over when the fat lady sings, right?
We're going to make it.
NARRATOR: The flight is fully booked,
but Mary and Michael
are top of the waitlist.
- (muffled voice on phone)
- Okay.
NARRATOR: So if any passengers
don't turn up,
the seats are theirs.
So, every minute gets very important
when there are passengers
waiting to get on standby.
NARRATOR: More and more
of the 228 designated passengers
turn up.
It's looking little tight!
That's worrying me a bit.
Seven more to come.
NARRATOR: The chances of a seat
are looking doubtful.
One in transit waitlist.
It's so touch and go for them.
We have another five minutes
for you to wait.
You can come and wait over there.
Okay, we're just hoping
that one more person
doesn't show up.
If they do, then we have a problem.
MICHAEL: Both of us have to work tomorrow.
It's not like we have a few days at home
to recover from traveling.
It's next day it starts.
NARRATOR: In Terminal Three,
Khalil is trying to help
a stranded family who missed
their connection to Amsterdam.
Who's the supervising officer here?
NARRATOR:
The airline classed them as no-shows
and they must pay a fine
before being allowed on another flight.
With this the same penalty applies.
NARRATOR:
There is a flight with available seats
closing in ten minutes.
Khalil is hoping to persuade the airline
to waive the fine and let them fly.
They won't waive it
because it's too high of a fare.
Uh, the penalty is very high,
so they can't waive it.
He says "Try to negotiate
with the passengers to see
if they can pay something
and then we'll try for tomorrow's flight."
So he said if it was a low fare,
he would've done it,
but because it's so high fare,
it's like, you're talking about
nearly 6,000 dirhams.
NARRATOR: The airline won't budge.
The fine stands at $1,600.
If the family doesn't pay, they can't fly.
Khalil needs to find a solution.
He must figure out who is at fault
for missing the connection,
the family or the airline.
KHALIL: I'm just trying to see
if they missed con
because of no-show, or they missed con
because of a late inbound.
Now, their flight left Peshawar,
and I want to know what time
they arrived in Dubai.
In the afternoon, right?
NARRATOR: Khalil needs
to establish how long
the family had to connect
to the Amsterdam flight.
If the time is deemed too short,
the airline could class them
as a missed connection
and cancel the fine.
Okay, this is going to take
more time than expected.
I looked at the case,
passenger arrived way on time.
Wasn't late inbound.
He had 20 hours in transit.
NARRATOR: Even in the biggest
terminal in the world,
20 hours connection time is reasonable.
He, uh, misread his boarding pass
and he thought his gate
was actually in Terminal One,
but because his gate was
actually in Terminal Three,
which is Concourse B.
NARRATOR: It's a case
of lost in translation.
The family have been
waiting at the wrong gate.
KHALIL: See, they've been
here since yesterday,
you know, so they're frustrated, tired.
It's not intentionally done,
it's like, you know,
it's a mistake, it happens, you know.
So we always look at the bigger picture.
Sometimes we can't waive
the penalty, sometimes we can.
NARRATOR: Khalil is beginning
to realize that he may not
be able to help this family.
They might have to find the cash
to get out of the airport.
Normally, in these cases,
some families will contact
family members in their
countries to wire funds to,
you know, to pay for these restrictions.
(phone rings)
NARRATOR: En route to suggest
a money transfer
to the stranded family,
Khalil receives a call
from the airport manager.
Good news. Done. All three, done.
They can get their boarding passes
for tomorrow's flight.
Waived charges, no penalties, all done.
NARRATOR: Thanks to Khalil's
powers of persuasion,
the airline has backed down.
The family have seats on
tomorrow's plane to Amsterdam.
It means another night in the terminal,
but at least no fine.
So at least he's going to be relieved,
wife's going to be relieved.
So at least now, they know.
These are new boarding passes, okay,
which is tomorrow's flight,
all three seats together.
- Just keep safe this one.
- PASSENGER: Okay.
- PASSENGER: Okay. Thanks.
- KHALIL: No problem. Take care.
- Okay? Yeah.
- All right.
See, that's made my day,
made their day, everyone's day.
Okay, that's it, done.
NARRATOR: In the air, it is the cabin crew
who provide service,
but they don't just offer glamour,
wheel trolleys
and dish up flight food.
If something goes wrong,
they are the onboard emergency services.
All Emirates cabin crew
face a seven-week course
at the airline's Aviation College.
TRAINER: Touch your toes.
NARRATOR: To qualify, they must show
they can handle any emergency,
no matter how rare.
(indistinct shouting)
Training takes place
in simulators to ensure
the most realistic learning conditions.
And today, Maciej Swiader from Poland
must deal decisively with a rare
but dangerous emergency, fire.
MACIEJ: I'm feeling, like,
very positive about the fire.
Maybe I'll be panicked a little bit,
but I'll try to stay calm all the time.
NARRATOR:
He has never fought a fire in his life.
Trainees are put through their paces
by former flight attendant Claire Coleman.
I need backup.
Now, straightaway, I can see--
- I'm your backup.
- Thank you.
I can see smoke coming from here.
So we literally will take them through
every single possible kind of emergency.
NARRATOR:
The airline can't risk a real fire
in its expensive simulator,
so the flight attendants
fight a laser imitation.
CLAIRE: This is a red light
to simulate flames.
There is a laser in here,
and if you connect the laser up correctly,
you will eventually put out the fire.
NARRATOR: For this exercise,
the fire ignites in the luggage rack.
Now, with a overhead storage bin,
there's no alarm.
It literally is a case of
you being situationally aware,
having a look, "Oh, there's smoke there."
NARRATOR: For this exercise,
they must master using the halon.
Remember, you should be holding
it like this at all times.
In case if you need to use it,
you're ready to go, okay?
CLAIRE: Okay, guys, so we're
going to start the scenario now.
NARRATOR: Maciej is up first.
That's my fur coat line.
MACIEJ: There is smoke.
NARRATOR: His job is backup fireman,
providing support to his crew member
fighting the fake flames.
He must be decisive and hold
his extinguisher correctly.
MACIEJ: Is the fire still on?
The fire is still on?
TRAINEE: The fire's-- Okay.
- MACIEJ: The fire is out now?
- TRAINEE: Yeah, all three done.
STACEY: The only thing
I'm gonna correct you on is
holding the halon, yeah?
You were walking around,
holding it like this.
NARRATOR: Next, a fire in the bathroom.
If smoke is detected,
- that's the sound you're gonna hear, yeah?
- (chiming)
Which is a continuous chime
in the affected area,
and you will see
the amber light flashing here.
NARRATOR: Maciej is
beginning to appreciate
the importance of his job.
MACIEJ: It's much easier on paper because
when you see it on paper,
you are not stressed,
but when it comes to a real situation,
when you really have to fight the fire,
it's more stressful
and you feel much more pressure.
We offer today chicken and beef.
What would you like to have?
WOMAN: Chicken.
NARRATOR: In an emergency,
Maciej would be the direct line
of communication to the pilot,
delivering information about the fire
and passing on instructions.
Above all, he must be confident and firm.
Hi. Captain.
Hi, Captain, this is Maciej calling
from R3 station.
I would like to report to you,
there has been a fire detected
in the lavatory.
Can you please check for secondary fires?
CLAIRE: Be assertive, Maciej.
MACIEJ: Hello, Shazza,
can you please check for secondary fires.
SHAZZA: Yes, I will.
MACIEJ: Shazza, please check
for secondary
- SHAZZA: Yes.
- MACIEJ: Okay.
NARRATOR: The airline
will not pass any recruit
unless they are convincingly decisive.
Maciej, be assertive, because remember,
you're onboard the aircraft as well,
and if there's another fire,
possibly, what can happen?
What are the repercussions
of a massive fire
on an aircraft up in the sky, yeah?
It can end up as a complete catastrophe.
NARRATOR: So far Maciej has
found it hard to be decisive.
He must gain in confidence
to pass the course.
He's got one more chance to prove himself,
with real flames.
After missing their flight,
Mary and Michael are on standby
for a flight home to Düsseldorf, Germany.
ARTI: Yeah, come forward, please.
NARRATOR: Five hours later,
they think they've finally got seats
once they have paid a rebooking fine.
ARTI: Because they were
considered as no-show
on their booked flight,
the company policy is based
on the type of fare
that they have paid for the ticket.
Most of the tickets require
a penalty to be paid
to change a reservation.
There is a penalty of 730 Dirhams.
- MARY: Are we in now?
- Yes, you have the seats.
NARRATOR: Seats are available,
but their tickets can only be
printed and valid
once the $200 fee is paid.
Yeah, charge that, charge that.
NARRATOR: They need to act quickly.
Now, the waitlist counter staff
are fully aware of it.
They do make the passenger
aware, uh, to keep their,
you know, Visa or Mastercards
ready to make the payment.
They tell them what the amount is,
and they literally have got
a minute or two
to do that transaction while
the agent checks them in
and does the baggage.
ARTI: Excuse me, my love.
Sorry.
NARRATOR: Processing the payment
is painfully slow.
Every second that passes,
their seat could be taken by someone else.
And before the transaction goes through
ARTI: Yeah, but there was nobody else.
They have come back, the ski group?
Okay, quickly tell her not to do it.
Okay, all righty.
MARIE: Hamburg or Vienna?
NARRATOR:
The no-show passengers have turned up.
ARTI: Obviously penalty was delayed.
Can you maybe check for Hamburg?
It's going also at the same time?
ARTI: Let me check for you, one moment.
Calling for Hamburg.
NARRATOR: There is a Hamburg
flight leaving at the same time
and there are seats available.
ARTI: Oh, God! They've waited so long.
NARRATOR: The flight's been closed, but
Arti's refusing to take no for an answer.
She battles for the tickets.
I need Hamburg flight to be reopened.
I'm calling them for the past six minutes.
To put these two passengers
on the Hamburg flight!
They were confirmed Düsseldorf.
They've got their seats
and then, they were put
back on waiting list.
Yes, they're here since morning.
Hamburg flight closed?
Okay, okay.
Ah, quickly, quickly, check them in.
Hello, will you quickly open the flight?
We need to check them in.
We're just giving it our last shot, okay?
We are trying our best,
let's see if it works.
NARRATOR: As they wait
for the final decision,
Michael's relieved the end seems in sight.
- No worries.
- No worries.
- It's really no worries.
- ARTI: Why?
We've got a huge problem on our hands.
Since morning they're here
from Düsseldorf flight.
NARRATOR: But again,
Arti's efforts come to nothing.
ARTI: Cannot do it.
The gate will not reopen,
that flight anyway.
Now, what is the next option? Just check.
NARRATOR: The last option
she has is a flight
to another German city,
leaving in another three hours.
Do you want to go on
the Munich flight at 4:30?
I want to go to Germany. I don't care!
NARRATOR: It's a compromise
Michael is happy to take.
So it's going to be, like,
four-and-a-half hours' train
ride from Munich afterwards,
so we'll be home about midnight, I guess.
NARRATOR: Two seats
on the Munich flight confirmed
and the precious boarding cards issued.
- MAN: Thank you.
- Thanks a lot.
- MARIE: Thank you very much.
- MAN: Bye.
ARTI: All done?
Thank you. I'm very sorry
about this, okay?
- Thank you so much.
- Have a pleasant flight, sir.
- Thanks so much.
- Thank you, bye-bye.
- Thank you, bye.
- ARTI: That's okay.
We made it!
NARRATOR: Michael and Mary are finally
on their way home.
NARRATOR: Forty flights
an hour take off and land
from Dubai International.
Efficient service means
the swift handling of
passengers and cargo.
Marie, did you finish
the off-loading in there?
NARRATOR: Nargis Jawaid
oversees the turnaround of
aircraft at the airport.
Incoming planes must be
emptied of cargo and passengers
and reloaded within a set time
to keep the airport on schedule.
When there's a problem
on a flight, she has to fix it.
We'll try to turn around the aircraft
within the standard ground time.
That's one hour 15 minutes
which we normally take for loading
and unloading the complete aircraft.
NARRATOR: Passenger flight
EK601 has just arrived
from Karachi, Pakistan, 30 minutes late.
Now, Nargis must work quickly
to get it back on schedule.
Pushback is at 3:15.
The flight has got
a very short ground time.
We have exactly one hour 15 minutes
for the aircraft to go back.
We need to make sure that
this flight leaves as soon as possible.
So reducing the ground time
is the biggest challenge for us now.
Take it up, take it up.
NARRATOR: The eight cargo containers
would usually roll off easily.
Marashin, send the loaders here,
the container is not coming off.
NARRATOR: Each container,
with its cargo of raw meat,
weighs between one-and-half
and three tons.
I'm just trying to arrange
some extra guys to come
and pull off the container manually.
Because the container has come off.
Now it's stuck here,
because we're running out of time now.
NARRATOR: The container
has come off the tracks
and is stuck.
Its contents are perishable
and mustn't be exposed
to the fierce desert heat.
You push from the other side.
It's not coming off. I think it's stuck.
Okay! One, two, three, push!
NARRATOR: Fifty-five minutes
until pushback.
NARGIS: Push, Push!
NARRATOR: The next container
hasn't derailed,
but its three-ton load
has shifted in transit,
causing the meat to pile up in one corner.
The container is very heavy and you can
see it's not very equally distributed.
That's why we are finding it difficult
to pull the units out.
You just go from the back
and push the container.
Push the container from back as well.
We're having a problem in
offloading the containers.
I need a second transporter urgently!
Quickly, I have only 25 minutes left.
NARRATOR: 2:55.
It's taken Nargis and the team
most of the turnaround time
to unload.
We've just finished with the last one
so we have 20 minutes.
We'll just try to finish it in 20 minutes.
NARRATOR: Pushback is in 20 minutes,
but she still needs to load the new cargo.
If she doesn't make it,
the plane will be delayed,
or have to leave
without the freight onboard.
In a simulated galley,
trainee flight attendant Maciej
must demonstrate he can
successfully tackle a real fire.
Nobody of us has ever put out a real fire,
so it's going to be, like,
a little bit stressful, a little bit.
We are going to be
We are a little bit nervous,
but I hope we'll all do well.
NARRATOR: Airlines have a code
I need backup!
for dealing with this most
dreaded of emergencies.
CLAIRE: Fire is out!
(cheering)
Yeah, it's my turn.
Now keep your fingers crossed!
MACIEJ: I need backup!
TRAINEE: I'm your backup.
NARRATOR: Moving quickly,
Maciej takes aggressive action
to extinguish the deadly flames.
TRAINER: Good, well done!
Go there.
Very proud of him!
Very proud of all of them.
They've all done really well today.
NARRATOR: Taking control of the fire
gets Maciej the pass he needs.
I felt like a real warrior
with the fire extinguisher in my hand.
So, yeah, that was a really nice feeling
to fight the fire
and to feel like a fighter, yeah.
NARRATOR: Suzanne is carrying out a review
of the new Concourse A
with project director Barry.
BARRY: This is where
the focal point is now.
NARRATOR: It's set to open in one month,
if it passes an inspection
by the sheikh next week.
But things are not going well,
and next on the list is
the all-important duty-free department.
ANNOUNCER: Please exit to arrival level.
(speaking in foreign language)
Really, I need to see now
the duty-free staff
and, and, you know,
the final checks are going on
and they start branding their tills.
They are getting ready for stock up?
They have to start stocking up.
NARRATOR: The brand-new duty-free is vital
to the airport's revenue.
Retail sales in 2012 hit
a staggering $1.6 billion.
Today is the eighth,
you're talking hardly one week.
This is so far behind.
BARRY: The main thing
is to get the ceilings
and the lighting out here, and then
Okay, ceiling is more or less nearly done.
The walls, plywood still and
BARRY: Well, this just gets very
If you have a look,
there's leather panels.
SUZANNE: Okay, it is
It is very simple
very easy work.
But again, sound like a broken record.
Too many easy works to be done.
- BARRY: No, exactly.
- Yeah.
- BUILDER: Careful, careful.
- Careful, careful.
So these are the panels that will go on.
Okay.
And this lovely column?
Um, good question.
I'll have to check, but I think
it gets clad in timber.
NARRATOR: Duty-free has been a headache
for Barry and his team.
The original designs were
changed after work had started.
BARRY: We were six months out
and they said,
"We don't like what we see."
The mock-ups then had to be redone.
We redid the mock-ups,
and based on the revised mock-ups,
we then had to go and execute the work.
So there was
There was a significant change
to the design philosophy
at a very late stage.
NARRATOR: Suzanne must show
this concourse to the sheikh.
She doesn't want him
to see a construction site.
When I see areas open,
I see materials lying there,
and nobody is installing, you know,
this is really criminal.
Nothing.
You can't say anything's finished.
NARRATOR: Suzanne has seen enough.
It's over to Barry to deliver
her demands on schedule.
Look, there's quite a lot to do.
And it's not going to be 100%.
I think we're going to have to
do a few emergency measures,
in terms of closing out
some of the unfinished works.
NARRATOR: Barry knows
it's going to be a tight finish,
but he hasn't given up.
We don't sleep.
This is the war zone
and what we've got to do is
make sure we deliver.
NARRATOR: Dubai International
is open 24 hours a day,
leaving no convenient time
to service the runways.
But to maintain
the highest safety standards,
each of the two runways
must be checked and cleaned.
The only option is
to shut down one at a time
and work fast.
Today, Arfan Arkate and his team
must clean and check the runway lights.
For runway central line it's 265 lights.
And touch down both sides it's 480 lights.
Approximately it will be 700 lights.
NARRATOR: Takeoff and landing
are the most critical times
for any flight.
Working lights are vital
to bring pilots in on the runway.
Once the pilot approaches
there's a pattern of lights.
First he'll see the approach.
So according to that,
he will plan his landing position.
If the lights have not been maintained,
the pilot may land somewhere else.
It's for the safety of the aircraft,
safety of the passengers
who are onboard of the aircraft.
Electric mobile 5 copied.
Proceeding runway 3-0 right,
runway is closed.
NARRATOR: There are two jobs,
cleaning, and then later,
checking the lights are working.
In daylight, it's cleaning time.
General dust and dirt builds up,
and most importantly,
rubber from plane wheels
can leave marks, all potentially
reducing the amount of light emitted.
We have to make sure that
the lights have been cleaned,
there is no rubber deposit on the lights.
NARRATOR: Dubai is a modern
high-tech airport,
but when it comes to cleaning,
they find elbow grease is best.
If we are doing it
with an automatic machine,
it takes longer time
than doing it manually.
So we prefer doing it manually.
The spray bottle is the safest way
because if we use a chemical,
it might corrode the light unit
and it will be disastrous for an aircraft.
NARRATOR: With one runway out of action,
Air Traffic Control are
limited on the takeoff
and landing schedule.
To minimize disruption,
Arfan and his team have
just two hours to clean 87 lights each.
It's a challenging time for us
to clean 700 lights in 2 hours
so that we can be ready
for the photometric test.
NARRATOR: The high-tech part of the job,
the photometric test,
will be carried out after dark.
Now, with just an hour left,
the remaining lights
must be perfectly cleaned.
With a plane that landed 30 minutes late,
Nargis is in the middle
of a fast turnaround,
but lost more time unloading the cargo.
Pushback has been rescheduled,
but Nargis is worried
she still won't make the new takeoff slot.
Because we're running out of time now,
we've got just about 20 minutes left now.
Okay, so he's loading two,
we will load another two.
NARRATOR: Just when she
needs things to run smoothly,
the cargo, baskets of African
cooking herb bitter leaf,
has become unsecured.
NARGIS: Quickly, quickly!
NARRATOR: Repacking costs her
nearly four minutes.
So we cannot load it this way. We
have to secure it back in the container.
NARRATOR: Fifteen minutes to pushback.
Just remove those last two.
Yes! That one also.
Just do it one at a time. Okay, turn it.
Okay, next one, next one.
Push, push, push.
Marion, in the forward,
how many units more to load?
Send it quickly, send it quickly.
NARRATOR: And with minutes to go,
another container is being temperamental.
Push this side, push this side.
Hello, pull the container out first.
Pull it out, pull it out.
Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Okay, push it, push it straight, straight.
Push, push.
NARRATOR: With hard graft and sweat,
Nargis and the team
finally dislodge the container.
We have about three minutes only left,
three minutes!
Shane, is that the last one?
NARRATOR: It's a last dash
to get the final container onboard.
- Any more coming, no?
- No more, no more.
Okay, let's finish it quickly.
Close up, close up.
NARGIS: Push it, push it.
NARRATOR: Despite the team's efforts,
Nargis has missed
the revised pushback time.
The passengers on this plane
may now face further delays.
So we did all our best we could.
So you can see how difficult it is
for us to load
and unload the containers.
NARRATOR: Five minutes later,
and a takeoff slot comes free.
The plane pushes back.
NARRATOR: In two days, a member
of Dubai's ruling royal family
is coming to visit Concourse A,
to see if it's ready for business.
His priority list will include:
departure gates, duty free,
and overall image.
Three days ago, these were a challenge
for project director Barry Lewis.
Okay, so what's going to happen, Eddie, is
the walk with the sheikh is
basically going to do
a loop through departures,
which I don't think
we've got an issue with.
We've just got the bits and pieces
that we need to close out.
Are they gonna come in on the train?
They're not going to use the sky train.
- Okay.
- Suzanne wants them
- to get a feel for the space.
- Yeah.
They're then going to go
back through the center,
up the middle, so they can see the
readiness of the duty free.
NARRATOR: Departures gates are now ready,
but people might not be able to find them.
Listen, all this, uh, information signage
that's not illuminated,
can you get it sorted out?
For the airport to operate,
people need to know where they're going.
And if the signage is not correct,
people will get lost.
And when you've got thousands of people
moving through a facility,
they need to know where to go.
NARRATOR: If the concourse
opens without the right signs,
it could be catastrophic.
People could get lost and miss flights.
Barry wants to put himself
in the shoes of a passenger
and identify issues with the building.
And we need to go and basically
walk every single route
to make sure that people can
find their correct gate,
As a As a fundamental,
they need to be able to find facilities,
toilets, restaurants, assistance.
So, the signage has to be checked,
and that will be one of the key
things that will be go or no-go
in terms of opening the facility.
NARRATOR: But the sheikh
is also going to be concerned about image.
And there's one unexpected complication.
Some unwelcome residents have
moved in during construction.
Yeah, there's a lot of cats
in the building.
Basically, they've come in
because of the the rodents
that come in, because
the guys, when they eat,
they leave residual food lying around.
And so, there's a lot of rats and mice
that come into the building.
So pest control is quite a big issue.
NARRATOR: And part of
Dubai's image is duty-free,
another headache for Barry.
It's a big revenue earner
for Dubai International
and will be high
on the sheikh's inspection list.
Barry is going to have to resort to some
cosmetic set-dressing.
BARRY: Okay, this is
the high-end duty free
that we were talking about, the unit.
So we need to make sure
that we get it locked down.
When the units are here, even if
we just push them into place,
but they need to be in place
and it needs to look tidy.
NARRATOR: Barry needs to juggle
making the building look good
with actually finishing the job.
What's important here is,
don't listen to what
anyone's got to say, you work.
If anyone stops you, give me a bell, okay?
NARRATOR: With less than 48 hours to go
to the decisive royal visit,
there will be no letup
for the 18,000 strong construction crew.
A positive outcome from
this visit is absolutely key.
I mean, we've been pushing on
this job for the last 18 months.
We've been working 24/7,
we've not allowed guys to take weekends.
We've binned all holidays
and it will be a massive downer
if they come back and say,
"Guys, it's not good enough."
NARRATOR: Barry's using everything he has
to get this construction project finished.
We've held people's payments,
we've given people money.
We've kicked them, we've hugged them,
we've, you know, picked them up,
we've pushed them we've, you know,
we've tried everything that
we can and we're basically,
at that point now where
we've just got to push like hell
and get everybody across the line.
NARRATOR: Arfan and his team have cleaned
all 700 runway lights
before the end of the day.
Now they have to test them.
It needs to be dark
to get accurate readings.
They've got two hours
before the runway is scheduled to reopen.
The test measures
the brightness of the light
the elevation of the light beam
and the angle of the light beam.
NARRATOR: Photometric sensors
on the trailer will measure
the exact luminosity of each light.
So please switch on 1-2 left runway
central line and full intensity.
MAN: (on radio) 1-2 left runway central
line at full intensity coming on now.
For that, thank you very much, sir.
NARRATOR: If a light's
luminosity is less than 50%,
it will be replaced.
The sound which is coming
means we are going on the lights,
so it is the brightness of the light
has been detected by the sensors.
NARRATOR:
Arfan needs to hold a steady line
to ensure an accurate measurement.
We have to drive this vehicle
at approximately 60 to 80 km per hour
so we can get a perfect reading.
NARRATOR:
It's a four kilometer long runway.
They can drive it
in less than five minutes,
but if any lights have failed,
they'll have to be replaced,
putting added pressure
on the next weekly closure.
We have to finish this test
before eight o'clock.
- Five hundred meters to go.
- MAN: One hundred twenty-five.
Sixty-five.
NARRATOR: Test complete and the data's in.
All the lights, the runway
central line lights are above 50%.
Yes, it was a good test.
All the lights have been passed.
NARRATOR: It's a good day for Arfan
and the airport.
No lights need to be replaced.
The runway can safely be handed
back to Air Traffic Control.
Captioned by Pixelogic Media
NARRATOR: Dubai International Airport,
one of the fastest-growing airports
on the planet,
- and aiming to be number one.
- Cleared for takeoff.
NARRATOR: But perfection is never easy.
AJOY: Final call, Emirates to Sydney.
PASSENGER OPS: Gatwick, Amsterdam.
NARRATOR: More planes
The flight has departed.
(crying)
NARRATOR: More passengers
Absolutely ridiculous.
I need extra manpower here
at transfer desk.
NARRATOR:
And massive construction just to keep up.
So much scaffolding everywhere.
Nothing is finished.
- NARRATOR: It's nonstop.
- (whistles)
If you don't love it,
it's just gonna kill you.
NARRATOR: 24/7.
I think it's stuck.
One, two, three, push.
NARRATOR: It's the job of 60,000 staff
from all over the world
It's either you can deliver
or you're out of the building.
NARRATOR: to make this
the ultimate airport.
Dubai International has invested
billions of dollars
in its infrastructure
over the last decade.
An ambitious airport needs vast terminals,
properly maintained runways,
and efficient computer-managed
baggage handling systems.
But more than these,
it needs good service.
Staff need to balance efficiently moving
millions of passengers
with knowing what to do
and how to be flexible when systems fail.
You're too late for the flight, my love.
NARRATOR:
It's 7:00 a.m. in Terminal Three.
You have to come on time!
NARRATOR: 168 counters are open
to check in thousands of passengers.
Arti Mehra watches the queues
and troubleshoots passenger problems.
Any passengers for Cape Town?
Hamburg? Geneva?
NARRATOR: Rush hour
is always a testing time.
They can get a little dozy
waiting in the queues for so long.
We have got a few passengers
who have missed flights today.
NARRATOR: And among them a German couple,
Mary Bruid and Michael Acte,
who missed their
8:40 flight to Düsseldorf.
- Yes, my dear.
- MARY: Are you the supervisor?
ARTI: Yes, I am.
We really have a big problem.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Missing a flight could mean
the fault lies with check-in
or with the passengers themselves.
The remedy will depend on who's to blame.
MARY: We need to go
this afternoon for sure
because he has surgery,
he is a doctor, his patients
All right. Okay.
You were on the 8:00 flight?
MARY: 8:40, yeah.
We had seats, we had everything!
- ARTI: Then?
- And they said,
it was one hour before even the flight,
they said it's closed.
ARTI: Closed for what?
MARY: Closed for To put on the luggage.
NARRATOR: Now the couple
are waiting and hoping
they can get on a later flight,
but Arti has already worked out
the airline is not to blame.
Sometimes some passengers
are just getting flabbergasted
for only reason that they came late
and they couldn't get on the flight,
or they haven't come to the correct area
to check in or whatever.
Then we just We're just firm.
Polite and firm with them.
NARRATOR: She realizes
that although the couple
checked in online, they failed to drop
their luggage in on time.
Airline rules state,
baggage drop-off closes
one-and-a-half hours before departure.
So obviously, they have gate no-showed,
and they have to be waitlisted
for the next flight.
Have you spoken to that
young lady on waitlist?
Yeah, and she said, we have
to come three hours before.
- What time is your next flight?
- At 2:00-something.
Okay, just wait here. I won't forget you.
- Thank you.
- Don't worry.
- I'll just take a seat there.
- Yeah, do that.
NARRATOR: The couple
are desperate to get home.
Their best option is
to be put on a waitlist
for the next flight to
Düsseldorf in six hours' time.
MARY: We have to get the flight today.
No, really, we have to work.
NARRATOR: Arti knows that
the wait-list for spare seats
is always a gamble.
Oh, the Düsseldorf flight is also full.
The next flight is also full.
If it's like that it's like that,
but it's not an option for us.
NARRATOR: Even with Terminal Three,
one of the biggest buildings on earth,
Dubai International is at capacity.
If it wants to attract more business,
it needs more space.
The solution is the
$3.2 billion Concourse A,
due to open in one month,
if a royal visit gives the go-ahead.
The building itself is finished,
but it's far from ready for business,
a monumental challenge for
Project Director Barry Lewis.
We're not sleeping at the moment.
The reality is is there's
a massive volume of work,
but we have got 18,000 men on the job.
We've got 150 different subcontractors
in different shapes and forms.
We've got committed staff.
We've got a client that is
pushing us, I mean, really hard.
NARRATOR: In one month, 20 departure gates
need to be working,
with lounges completed,
and the duty-free shops fitted out
and stocked with designer products.
But Barry is still correcting
basic construction snags.
BARRY: So, is somebody
dealing with this then?
There's a leak in the toilet through.
The guys know about it, they're onto it
and they're sorting it out.
They got H.A. in there now.
Is it a leak through the system,
or is it a waterproofing issue?
BUILDER: I think it's
a waterproofing issue at this stage, yes.
It goes without saying,
they need to get it sorted.
NARRATOR: Right now, Barry's
got even more to worry about
than leaking pipes.
His boss, the CEO
of the airport's engineering projects,
is coming to see if the concourse
will be ready for a visit
by a member of Dubai's ruling royal family
in one week.
My fear here is,
they will take forever to finish.
NARRATOR:
Suzanne Al Anani has a huge job--
Ensure a team of 18,000
construction workers
squeeze two years' work into ten months.
No leeway.
NARRATOR: Barry knows progress
needs to be monitored,
but he worries the visits themselves
can be counterproductive.
Obviously, when Suzanne visits,
she identifies certain
a couple of key things,
but behind that, there's a million other
things that need to be sorted out.
Off we go, guys.
- Okay.
- NARRATOR: Barry is worried
that visits don't focus on fundamentals,
but pick up on cosmetic detail.
You know, I get worried
when I see scaffolding
going, going all the way
to eternity, you know?
NARRATOR: With Suzanne concerned
about hitting the deadlines,
it's not helpful for Barry that
there seem to be no workers.
- You have enough people?
- Yeah.
Or it is coffee break again?
- Tea break and lunch break and whatever?
- It is teatime now, yes.
- Yeah, always it's teatime!
- Either teatime or lunchtime.
The whole site, all the bloody time,
teatime or lunchtime, you know?
Honestly!
NARRATOR: Suzanne is here
to oversee the wider progress,
but she also has a sharp eye for detail,
and for premium passengers
in the business class lounge,
carpets matter.
SUZANNE: This is typical!
This is a very high-profile
seating area, okay?
With the expansion joint
going through like this, you know?
This really looks really, really stupid.
Really stupid.
This is supposed to be part of the detail?
Typical. So, back to the drawing board!
NARRATOR: With time so short,
the last thing Barry wants is
to go back to the drawing board.
The visits can be disruptive
in the sense that,
they change People lose focus
and they start focusing
on the wrong things.
I'm reasonably comfortable that we're
going to get where we need to do,
provided we maintain the focus
and we keep people
working in the right places.
NARRATOR: Next stop, the departure gates,
perhaps the most important
functional part of an airport.
Suzanne wants just four
of the total 20 gates
to be working next week
for the royal visit,
and they are far from functional.
The first group of gates,
it has to be ready
and still you see quite a lot of work.
This is where you have the transfers,
this is where, you know,
the heart of the operation
which is going to start,
still should be given more attention
than the other ends, you know?
- No, we understand.
- SUZANNE: Yeah.
NARRATOR: It's not looking good
for Barry or the airport.
Really, really, it is very worrying
because I look everywhere,
so much missing here,
so much missing there
- I feel very uneasy, you know.
- BARRY: Yeah.
So many crates, so many boxes,
so much scaffolding everywhere,
nothing is finished.
I don't consider anything finished.
NARRATOR: In its current state,
it will not pass the royal inspection.
If it doesn't come up
to scratch in one week,
it will reflect badly on everyone,
especially Suzanne.
Passengers who don't understand
what they have to do, or where to go,
are a constant challenge for the airport.
Many of the 57 million people
passing through Dubai International
every year
are in transit, connecting
to another destination.
It doesn't always go smoothly.
Usually, an airline can find a solution,
but sometimes it becomes
an issue for the airport itself.
Khalil Al Janahi deals
with stranded passengers.
I'm trying to always be
the middle negotiator.
I don't get involved
in the airline's business.
I don't get involved
in the passenger's business.
I'm like in between both
and trying to satisfy both parties.
We have an issue with three passengers.
They're stranded in the airport.
We don't know yet.
I'm going to find out
what the exact problem is
and coordinate with the airline concerned.
So we'll check it out.
NARRATOR: Khalil's headed to
the terminal's police department
where the stranded passengers are waiting.
KHALIL: Okay, so what's the problem?
- And Dubai going to where?
- PASSENGER: Amsterdam.
KHALIL: Amsterdam, okay.
NARRATOR: The family are traveling
from Pakistan to Amsterdam,
but missed their
connecting flight in Dubai.
- KHALIL: You have no money?
- No money.
- KHALIL: Nothing whatsoever?
- PASSENGER: No.
KHALIL: Okay.
Basically, these three passengers,
according to their version
of the story is,
is that they came into Dubai,
supposed to connect another flight,
and they missed the flight.
So Emirates is asking them to pay
a heavy fine for the tickets,
so I'm going to investigate
with EK with Emirates Airlines
what the problem is.
NARRATOR: With no money to pay the fine,
the family are stranded in Terminal Three.
Khalil's first job,
find out why they missed their connection.
Can you investigate why
these passengers offloaded
and they're supposed to connect to 147?
The comment is,
"Bags offloaded due to gate no show."
Gate no-show, okay.
According to staff here,
they're a gate no-show.
A passenger no-show at the gate.
It could be they didn't know
where the gate was,
or again, because
they don't speak English,
they only speak Urdu,
so they probably got lost in the airport,
so they missed the flight.
So this is what the problem is now.
Now, I'm going to see,
how much the fee is, is it high or low.
Sometimes, the airport services manager
can waive it and sometimes he can't.
I have checked now if they can waive it.
NARRATOR: If Khalil can convince
the airline to ditch the fine,
the family could be on
the next flight to Amsterdam,
leaving in one hour.
If he can't, they're still
stuck at the airport.
8:25 departure.
I'm racing against time,
and if I get them this flight
within ten minutes
they're gonna go.
NARRATOR:
Airports run to a rigid schedule.
If passengers turn up late,
they forfeit their seats,
and it's airport staff
who must pick up the pieces
and find them a new flight.
Mary and Michael
missed their morning flight
because they turned up late.
Now, five hours later,
they're still waiting for a new seat.
So they want to take
a chance on the flight,
so we have a specific counter,
a special counter for waitlist passengers.
So they come, they they're checked in,
they're given a standby number,
and sometimes they're lucky,
they get on the flights,
other times they have to wait
for the next flight.
MICHAEL: We don't care where in Germany,
just get us to Germany.
Doesn't matter, you know.
There are a lot of airports there.
They have like three flights
going the same time.
Just put us on one of them.
NARRATOR: The next flight
is in one-and-a-half hours.
It's looking 50-50.
We'll give it our best shot.
It's over when the fat lady sings, right?
We're going to make it.
NARRATOR: The flight is fully booked,
but Mary and Michael
are top of the waitlist.
- (muffled voice on phone)
- Okay.
NARRATOR: So if any passengers
don't turn up,
the seats are theirs.
So, every minute gets very important
when there are passengers
waiting to get on standby.
NARRATOR: More and more
of the 228 designated passengers
turn up.
It's looking little tight!
That's worrying me a bit.
Seven more to come.
NARRATOR: The chances of a seat
are looking doubtful.
One in transit waitlist.
It's so touch and go for them.
We have another five minutes
for you to wait.
You can come and wait over there.
Okay, we're just hoping
that one more person
doesn't show up.
If they do, then we have a problem.
MICHAEL: Both of us have to work tomorrow.
It's not like we have a few days at home
to recover from traveling.
It's next day it starts.
NARRATOR: In Terminal Three,
Khalil is trying to help
a stranded family who missed
their connection to Amsterdam.
Who's the supervising officer here?
NARRATOR:
The airline classed them as no-shows
and they must pay a fine
before being allowed on another flight.
With this the same penalty applies.
NARRATOR:
There is a flight with available seats
closing in ten minutes.
Khalil is hoping to persuade the airline
to waive the fine and let them fly.
They won't waive it
because it's too high of a fare.
Uh, the penalty is very high,
so they can't waive it.
He says "Try to negotiate
with the passengers to see
if they can pay something
and then we'll try for tomorrow's flight."
So he said if it was a low fare,
he would've done it,
but because it's so high fare,
it's like, you're talking about
nearly 6,000 dirhams.
NARRATOR: The airline won't budge.
The fine stands at $1,600.
If the family doesn't pay, they can't fly.
Khalil needs to find a solution.
He must figure out who is at fault
for missing the connection,
the family or the airline.
KHALIL: I'm just trying to see
if they missed con
because of no-show, or they missed con
because of a late inbound.
Now, their flight left Peshawar,
and I want to know what time
they arrived in Dubai.
In the afternoon, right?
NARRATOR: Khalil needs
to establish how long
the family had to connect
to the Amsterdam flight.
If the time is deemed too short,
the airline could class them
as a missed connection
and cancel the fine.
Okay, this is going to take
more time than expected.
I looked at the case,
passenger arrived way on time.
Wasn't late inbound.
He had 20 hours in transit.
NARRATOR: Even in the biggest
terminal in the world,
20 hours connection time is reasonable.
He, uh, misread his boarding pass
and he thought his gate
was actually in Terminal One,
but because his gate was
actually in Terminal Three,
which is Concourse B.
NARRATOR: It's a case
of lost in translation.
The family have been
waiting at the wrong gate.
KHALIL: See, they've been
here since yesterday,
you know, so they're frustrated, tired.
It's not intentionally done,
it's like, you know,
it's a mistake, it happens, you know.
So we always look at the bigger picture.
Sometimes we can't waive
the penalty, sometimes we can.
NARRATOR: Khalil is beginning
to realize that he may not
be able to help this family.
They might have to find the cash
to get out of the airport.
Normally, in these cases,
some families will contact
family members in their
countries to wire funds to,
you know, to pay for these restrictions.
(phone rings)
NARRATOR: En route to suggest
a money transfer
to the stranded family,
Khalil receives a call
from the airport manager.
Good news. Done. All three, done.
They can get their boarding passes
for tomorrow's flight.
Waived charges, no penalties, all done.
NARRATOR: Thanks to Khalil's
powers of persuasion,
the airline has backed down.
The family have seats on
tomorrow's plane to Amsterdam.
It means another night in the terminal,
but at least no fine.
So at least he's going to be relieved,
wife's going to be relieved.
So at least now, they know.
These are new boarding passes, okay,
which is tomorrow's flight,
all three seats together.
- Just keep safe this one.
- PASSENGER: Okay.
- PASSENGER: Okay. Thanks.
- KHALIL: No problem. Take care.
- Okay? Yeah.
- All right.
See, that's made my day,
made their day, everyone's day.
Okay, that's it, done.
NARRATOR: In the air, it is the cabin crew
who provide service,
but they don't just offer glamour,
wheel trolleys
and dish up flight food.
If something goes wrong,
they are the onboard emergency services.
All Emirates cabin crew
face a seven-week course
at the airline's Aviation College.
TRAINER: Touch your toes.
NARRATOR: To qualify, they must show
they can handle any emergency,
no matter how rare.
(indistinct shouting)
Training takes place
in simulators to ensure
the most realistic learning conditions.
And today, Maciej Swiader from Poland
must deal decisively with a rare
but dangerous emergency, fire.
MACIEJ: I'm feeling, like,
very positive about the fire.
Maybe I'll be panicked a little bit,
but I'll try to stay calm all the time.
NARRATOR:
He has never fought a fire in his life.
Trainees are put through their paces
by former flight attendant Claire Coleman.
I need backup.
Now, straightaway, I can see--
- I'm your backup.
- Thank you.
I can see smoke coming from here.
So we literally will take them through
every single possible kind of emergency.
NARRATOR:
The airline can't risk a real fire
in its expensive simulator,
so the flight attendants
fight a laser imitation.
CLAIRE: This is a red light
to simulate flames.
There is a laser in here,
and if you connect the laser up correctly,
you will eventually put out the fire.
NARRATOR: For this exercise,
the fire ignites in the luggage rack.
Now, with a overhead storage bin,
there's no alarm.
It literally is a case of
you being situationally aware,
having a look, "Oh, there's smoke there."
NARRATOR: For this exercise,
they must master using the halon.
Remember, you should be holding
it like this at all times.
In case if you need to use it,
you're ready to go, okay?
CLAIRE: Okay, guys, so we're
going to start the scenario now.
NARRATOR: Maciej is up first.
That's my fur coat line.
MACIEJ: There is smoke.
NARRATOR: His job is backup fireman,
providing support to his crew member
fighting the fake flames.
He must be decisive and hold
his extinguisher correctly.
MACIEJ: Is the fire still on?
The fire is still on?
TRAINEE: The fire's-- Okay.
- MACIEJ: The fire is out now?
- TRAINEE: Yeah, all three done.
STACEY: The only thing
I'm gonna correct you on is
holding the halon, yeah?
You were walking around,
holding it like this.
NARRATOR: Next, a fire in the bathroom.
If smoke is detected,
- that's the sound you're gonna hear, yeah?
- (chiming)
Which is a continuous chime
in the affected area,
and you will see
the amber light flashing here.
NARRATOR: Maciej is
beginning to appreciate
the importance of his job.
MACIEJ: It's much easier on paper because
when you see it on paper,
you are not stressed,
but when it comes to a real situation,
when you really have to fight the fire,
it's more stressful
and you feel much more pressure.
We offer today chicken and beef.
What would you like to have?
WOMAN: Chicken.
NARRATOR: In an emergency,
Maciej would be the direct line
of communication to the pilot,
delivering information about the fire
and passing on instructions.
Above all, he must be confident and firm.
Hi. Captain.
Hi, Captain, this is Maciej calling
from R3 station.
I would like to report to you,
there has been a fire detected
in the lavatory.
Can you please check for secondary fires?
CLAIRE: Be assertive, Maciej.
MACIEJ: Hello, Shazza,
can you please check for secondary fires.
SHAZZA: Yes, I will.
MACIEJ: Shazza, please check
for secondary
- SHAZZA: Yes.
- MACIEJ: Okay.
NARRATOR: The airline
will not pass any recruit
unless they are convincingly decisive.
Maciej, be assertive, because remember,
you're onboard the aircraft as well,
and if there's another fire,
possibly, what can happen?
What are the repercussions
of a massive fire
on an aircraft up in the sky, yeah?
It can end up as a complete catastrophe.
NARRATOR: So far Maciej has
found it hard to be decisive.
He must gain in confidence
to pass the course.
He's got one more chance to prove himself,
with real flames.
After missing their flight,
Mary and Michael are on standby
for a flight home to Düsseldorf, Germany.
ARTI: Yeah, come forward, please.
NARRATOR: Five hours later,
they think they've finally got seats
once they have paid a rebooking fine.
ARTI: Because they were
considered as no-show
on their booked flight,
the company policy is based
on the type of fare
that they have paid for the ticket.
Most of the tickets require
a penalty to be paid
to change a reservation.
There is a penalty of 730 Dirhams.
- MARY: Are we in now?
- Yes, you have the seats.
NARRATOR: Seats are available,
but their tickets can only be
printed and valid
once the $200 fee is paid.
Yeah, charge that, charge that.
NARRATOR: They need to act quickly.
Now, the waitlist counter staff
are fully aware of it.
They do make the passenger
aware, uh, to keep their,
you know, Visa or Mastercards
ready to make the payment.
They tell them what the amount is,
and they literally have got
a minute or two
to do that transaction while
the agent checks them in
and does the baggage.
ARTI: Excuse me, my love.
Sorry.
NARRATOR: Processing the payment
is painfully slow.
Every second that passes,
their seat could be taken by someone else.
And before the transaction goes through
ARTI: Yeah, but there was nobody else.
They have come back, the ski group?
Okay, quickly tell her not to do it.
Okay, all righty.
MARIE: Hamburg or Vienna?
NARRATOR:
The no-show passengers have turned up.
ARTI: Obviously penalty was delayed.
Can you maybe check for Hamburg?
It's going also at the same time?
ARTI: Let me check for you, one moment.
Calling for Hamburg.
NARRATOR: There is a Hamburg
flight leaving at the same time
and there are seats available.
ARTI: Oh, God! They've waited so long.
NARRATOR: The flight's been closed, but
Arti's refusing to take no for an answer.
She battles for the tickets.
I need Hamburg flight to be reopened.
I'm calling them for the past six minutes.
To put these two passengers
on the Hamburg flight!
They were confirmed Düsseldorf.
They've got their seats
and then, they were put
back on waiting list.
Yes, they're here since morning.
Hamburg flight closed?
Okay, okay.
Ah, quickly, quickly, check them in.
Hello, will you quickly open the flight?
We need to check them in.
We're just giving it our last shot, okay?
We are trying our best,
let's see if it works.
NARRATOR: As they wait
for the final decision,
Michael's relieved the end seems in sight.
- No worries.
- No worries.
- It's really no worries.
- ARTI: Why?
We've got a huge problem on our hands.
Since morning they're here
from Düsseldorf flight.
NARRATOR: But again,
Arti's efforts come to nothing.
ARTI: Cannot do it.
The gate will not reopen,
that flight anyway.
Now, what is the next option? Just check.
NARRATOR: The last option
she has is a flight
to another German city,
leaving in another three hours.
Do you want to go on
the Munich flight at 4:30?
I want to go to Germany. I don't care!
NARRATOR: It's a compromise
Michael is happy to take.
So it's going to be, like,
four-and-a-half hours' train
ride from Munich afterwards,
so we'll be home about midnight, I guess.
NARRATOR: Two seats
on the Munich flight confirmed
and the precious boarding cards issued.
- MAN: Thank you.
- Thanks a lot.
- MARIE: Thank you very much.
- MAN: Bye.
ARTI: All done?
Thank you. I'm very sorry
about this, okay?
- Thank you so much.
- Have a pleasant flight, sir.
- Thanks so much.
- Thank you, bye-bye.
- Thank you, bye.
- ARTI: That's okay.
We made it!
NARRATOR: Michael and Mary are finally
on their way home.
NARRATOR: Forty flights
an hour take off and land
from Dubai International.
Efficient service means
the swift handling of
passengers and cargo.
Marie, did you finish
the off-loading in there?
NARRATOR: Nargis Jawaid
oversees the turnaround of
aircraft at the airport.
Incoming planes must be
emptied of cargo and passengers
and reloaded within a set time
to keep the airport on schedule.
When there's a problem
on a flight, she has to fix it.
We'll try to turn around the aircraft
within the standard ground time.
That's one hour 15 minutes
which we normally take for loading
and unloading the complete aircraft.
NARRATOR: Passenger flight
EK601 has just arrived
from Karachi, Pakistan, 30 minutes late.
Now, Nargis must work quickly
to get it back on schedule.
Pushback is at 3:15.
The flight has got
a very short ground time.
We have exactly one hour 15 minutes
for the aircraft to go back.
We need to make sure that
this flight leaves as soon as possible.
So reducing the ground time
is the biggest challenge for us now.
Take it up, take it up.
NARRATOR: The eight cargo containers
would usually roll off easily.
Marashin, send the loaders here,
the container is not coming off.
NARRATOR: Each container,
with its cargo of raw meat,
weighs between one-and-half
and three tons.
I'm just trying to arrange
some extra guys to come
and pull off the container manually.
Because the container has come off.
Now it's stuck here,
because we're running out of time now.
NARRATOR: The container
has come off the tracks
and is stuck.
Its contents are perishable
and mustn't be exposed
to the fierce desert heat.
You push from the other side.
It's not coming off. I think it's stuck.
Okay! One, two, three, push!
NARRATOR: Fifty-five minutes
until pushback.
NARGIS: Push, Push!
NARRATOR: The next container
hasn't derailed,
but its three-ton load
has shifted in transit,
causing the meat to pile up in one corner.
The container is very heavy and you can
see it's not very equally distributed.
That's why we are finding it difficult
to pull the units out.
You just go from the back
and push the container.
Push the container from back as well.
We're having a problem in
offloading the containers.
I need a second transporter urgently!
Quickly, I have only 25 minutes left.
NARRATOR: 2:55.
It's taken Nargis and the team
most of the turnaround time
to unload.
We've just finished with the last one
so we have 20 minutes.
We'll just try to finish it in 20 minutes.
NARRATOR: Pushback is in 20 minutes,
but she still needs to load the new cargo.
If she doesn't make it,
the plane will be delayed,
or have to leave
without the freight onboard.
In a simulated galley,
trainee flight attendant Maciej
must demonstrate he can
successfully tackle a real fire.
Nobody of us has ever put out a real fire,
so it's going to be, like,
a little bit stressful, a little bit.
We are going to be
We are a little bit nervous,
but I hope we'll all do well.
NARRATOR: Airlines have a code
I need backup!
for dealing with this most
dreaded of emergencies.
CLAIRE: Fire is out!
(cheering)
Yeah, it's my turn.
Now keep your fingers crossed!
MACIEJ: I need backup!
TRAINEE: I'm your backup.
NARRATOR: Moving quickly,
Maciej takes aggressive action
to extinguish the deadly flames.
TRAINER: Good, well done!
Go there.
Very proud of him!
Very proud of all of them.
They've all done really well today.
NARRATOR: Taking control of the fire
gets Maciej the pass he needs.
I felt like a real warrior
with the fire extinguisher in my hand.
So, yeah, that was a really nice feeling
to fight the fire
and to feel like a fighter, yeah.
NARRATOR: Suzanne is carrying out a review
of the new Concourse A
with project director Barry.
BARRY: This is where
the focal point is now.
NARRATOR: It's set to open in one month,
if it passes an inspection
by the sheikh next week.
But things are not going well,
and next on the list is
the all-important duty-free department.
ANNOUNCER: Please exit to arrival level.
(speaking in foreign language)
Really, I need to see now
the duty-free staff
and, and, you know,
the final checks are going on
and they start branding their tills.
They are getting ready for stock up?
They have to start stocking up.
NARRATOR: The brand-new duty-free is vital
to the airport's revenue.
Retail sales in 2012 hit
a staggering $1.6 billion.
Today is the eighth,
you're talking hardly one week.
This is so far behind.
BARRY: The main thing
is to get the ceilings
and the lighting out here, and then
Okay, ceiling is more or less nearly done.
The walls, plywood still and
BARRY: Well, this just gets very
If you have a look,
there's leather panels.
SUZANNE: Okay, it is
It is very simple
very easy work.
But again, sound like a broken record.
Too many easy works to be done.
- BARRY: No, exactly.
- Yeah.
- BUILDER: Careful, careful.
- Careful, careful.
So these are the panels that will go on.
Okay.
And this lovely column?
Um, good question.
I'll have to check, but I think
it gets clad in timber.
NARRATOR: Duty-free has been a headache
for Barry and his team.
The original designs were
changed after work had started.
BARRY: We were six months out
and they said,
"We don't like what we see."
The mock-ups then had to be redone.
We redid the mock-ups,
and based on the revised mock-ups,
we then had to go and execute the work.
So there was
There was a significant change
to the design philosophy
at a very late stage.
NARRATOR: Suzanne must show
this concourse to the sheikh.
She doesn't want him
to see a construction site.
When I see areas open,
I see materials lying there,
and nobody is installing, you know,
this is really criminal.
Nothing.
You can't say anything's finished.
NARRATOR: Suzanne has seen enough.
It's over to Barry to deliver
her demands on schedule.
Look, there's quite a lot to do.
And it's not going to be 100%.
I think we're going to have to
do a few emergency measures,
in terms of closing out
some of the unfinished works.
NARRATOR: Barry knows
it's going to be a tight finish,
but he hasn't given up.
We don't sleep.
This is the war zone
and what we've got to do is
make sure we deliver.
NARRATOR: Dubai International
is open 24 hours a day,
leaving no convenient time
to service the runways.
But to maintain
the highest safety standards,
each of the two runways
must be checked and cleaned.
The only option is
to shut down one at a time
and work fast.
Today, Arfan Arkate and his team
must clean and check the runway lights.
For runway central line it's 265 lights.
And touch down both sides it's 480 lights.
Approximately it will be 700 lights.
NARRATOR: Takeoff and landing
are the most critical times
for any flight.
Working lights are vital
to bring pilots in on the runway.
Once the pilot approaches
there's a pattern of lights.
First he'll see the approach.
So according to that,
he will plan his landing position.
If the lights have not been maintained,
the pilot may land somewhere else.
It's for the safety of the aircraft,
safety of the passengers
who are onboard of the aircraft.
Electric mobile 5 copied.
Proceeding runway 3-0 right,
runway is closed.
NARRATOR: There are two jobs,
cleaning, and then later,
checking the lights are working.
In daylight, it's cleaning time.
General dust and dirt builds up,
and most importantly,
rubber from plane wheels
can leave marks, all potentially
reducing the amount of light emitted.
We have to make sure that
the lights have been cleaned,
there is no rubber deposit on the lights.
NARRATOR: Dubai is a modern
high-tech airport,
but when it comes to cleaning,
they find elbow grease is best.
If we are doing it
with an automatic machine,
it takes longer time
than doing it manually.
So we prefer doing it manually.
The spray bottle is the safest way
because if we use a chemical,
it might corrode the light unit
and it will be disastrous for an aircraft.
NARRATOR: With one runway out of action,
Air Traffic Control are
limited on the takeoff
and landing schedule.
To minimize disruption,
Arfan and his team have
just two hours to clean 87 lights each.
It's a challenging time for us
to clean 700 lights in 2 hours
so that we can be ready
for the photometric test.
NARRATOR: The high-tech part of the job,
the photometric test,
will be carried out after dark.
Now, with just an hour left,
the remaining lights
must be perfectly cleaned.
With a plane that landed 30 minutes late,
Nargis is in the middle
of a fast turnaround,
but lost more time unloading the cargo.
Pushback has been rescheduled,
but Nargis is worried
she still won't make the new takeoff slot.
Because we're running out of time now,
we've got just about 20 minutes left now.
Okay, so he's loading two,
we will load another two.
NARRATOR: Just when she
needs things to run smoothly,
the cargo, baskets of African
cooking herb bitter leaf,
has become unsecured.
NARGIS: Quickly, quickly!
NARRATOR: Repacking costs her
nearly four minutes.
So we cannot load it this way. We
have to secure it back in the container.
NARRATOR: Fifteen minutes to pushback.
Just remove those last two.
Yes! That one also.
Just do it one at a time. Okay, turn it.
Okay, next one, next one.
Push, push, push.
Marion, in the forward,
how many units more to load?
Send it quickly, send it quickly.
NARRATOR: And with minutes to go,
another container is being temperamental.
Push this side, push this side.
Hello, pull the container out first.
Pull it out, pull it out.
Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Okay, push it, push it straight, straight.
Push, push.
NARRATOR: With hard graft and sweat,
Nargis and the team
finally dislodge the container.
We have about three minutes only left,
three minutes!
Shane, is that the last one?
NARRATOR: It's a last dash
to get the final container onboard.
- Any more coming, no?
- No more, no more.
Okay, let's finish it quickly.
Close up, close up.
NARGIS: Push it, push it.
NARRATOR: Despite the team's efforts,
Nargis has missed
the revised pushback time.
The passengers on this plane
may now face further delays.
So we did all our best we could.
So you can see how difficult it is
for us to load
and unload the containers.
NARRATOR: Five minutes later,
and a takeoff slot comes free.
The plane pushes back.
NARRATOR: In two days, a member
of Dubai's ruling royal family
is coming to visit Concourse A,
to see if it's ready for business.
His priority list will include:
departure gates, duty free,
and overall image.
Three days ago, these were a challenge
for project director Barry Lewis.
Okay, so what's going to happen, Eddie, is
the walk with the sheikh is
basically going to do
a loop through departures,
which I don't think
we've got an issue with.
We've just got the bits and pieces
that we need to close out.
Are they gonna come in on the train?
They're not going to use the sky train.
- Okay.
- Suzanne wants them
- to get a feel for the space.
- Yeah.
They're then going to go
back through the center,
up the middle, so they can see the
readiness of the duty free.
NARRATOR: Departures gates are now ready,
but people might not be able to find them.
Listen, all this, uh, information signage
that's not illuminated,
can you get it sorted out?
For the airport to operate,
people need to know where they're going.
And if the signage is not correct,
people will get lost.
And when you've got thousands of people
moving through a facility,
they need to know where to go.
NARRATOR: If the concourse
opens without the right signs,
it could be catastrophic.
People could get lost and miss flights.
Barry wants to put himself
in the shoes of a passenger
and identify issues with the building.
And we need to go and basically
walk every single route
to make sure that people can
find their correct gate,
As a As a fundamental,
they need to be able to find facilities,
toilets, restaurants, assistance.
So, the signage has to be checked,
and that will be one of the key
things that will be go or no-go
in terms of opening the facility.
NARRATOR: But the sheikh
is also going to be concerned about image.
And there's one unexpected complication.
Some unwelcome residents have
moved in during construction.
Yeah, there's a lot of cats
in the building.
Basically, they've come in
because of the the rodents
that come in, because
the guys, when they eat,
they leave residual food lying around.
And so, there's a lot of rats and mice
that come into the building.
So pest control is quite a big issue.
NARRATOR: And part of
Dubai's image is duty-free,
another headache for Barry.
It's a big revenue earner
for Dubai International
and will be high
on the sheikh's inspection list.
Barry is going to have to resort to some
cosmetic set-dressing.
BARRY: Okay, this is
the high-end duty free
that we were talking about, the unit.
So we need to make sure
that we get it locked down.
When the units are here, even if
we just push them into place,
but they need to be in place
and it needs to look tidy.
NARRATOR: Barry needs to juggle
making the building look good
with actually finishing the job.
What's important here is,
don't listen to what
anyone's got to say, you work.
If anyone stops you, give me a bell, okay?
NARRATOR: With less than 48 hours to go
to the decisive royal visit,
there will be no letup
for the 18,000 strong construction crew.
A positive outcome from
this visit is absolutely key.
I mean, we've been pushing on
this job for the last 18 months.
We've been working 24/7,
we've not allowed guys to take weekends.
We've binned all holidays
and it will be a massive downer
if they come back and say,
"Guys, it's not good enough."
NARRATOR: Barry's using everything he has
to get this construction project finished.
We've held people's payments,
we've given people money.
We've kicked them, we've hugged them,
we've, you know, picked them up,
we've pushed them we've, you know,
we've tried everything that
we can and we're basically,
at that point now where
we've just got to push like hell
and get everybody across the line.
NARRATOR: Arfan and his team have cleaned
all 700 runway lights
before the end of the day.
Now they have to test them.
It needs to be dark
to get accurate readings.
They've got two hours
before the runway is scheduled to reopen.
The test measures
the brightness of the light
the elevation of the light beam
and the angle of the light beam.
NARRATOR: Photometric sensors
on the trailer will measure
the exact luminosity of each light.
So please switch on 1-2 left runway
central line and full intensity.
MAN: (on radio) 1-2 left runway central
line at full intensity coming on now.
For that, thank you very much, sir.
NARRATOR: If a light's
luminosity is less than 50%,
it will be replaced.
The sound which is coming
means we are going on the lights,
so it is the brightness of the light
has been detected by the sensors.
NARRATOR:
Arfan needs to hold a steady line
to ensure an accurate measurement.
We have to drive this vehicle
at approximately 60 to 80 km per hour
so we can get a perfect reading.
NARRATOR:
It's a four kilometer long runway.
They can drive it
in less than five minutes,
but if any lights have failed,
they'll have to be replaced,
putting added pressure
on the next weekly closure.
We have to finish this test
before eight o'clock.
- Five hundred meters to go.
- MAN: One hundred twenty-five.
Sixty-five.
NARRATOR: Test complete and the data's in.
All the lights, the runway
central line lights are above 50%.
Yes, it was a good test.
All the lights have been passed.
NARRATOR: It's a good day for Arfan
and the airport.
No lights need to be replaced.
The runway can safely be handed
back to Air Traffic Control.
Captioned by Pixelogic Media