Ultimate Airport Dubai (2013) s01e07 Episode Script

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.
Final call, Emirates to Sydney.
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 going to 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.
Coming up, time is running out
for chief executive Paul Griffiths
to finish the new A380-only concourse.
There is an awful lot to be done,
and I just hope that everything
will come together.
If it doesn't, we won't open.
NARRATOR: David is under pressure
as some VIP passengers arrive.
We want to make sure
everything goes like clockwork,
we get them off quickly.
NARRATOR: And there's a problem
on the ramp for Nizel
when a brand-new A380 fails to turn up.
Can you update me on the status,
where is this aircraft, please?
NARRATOR: Already home to 31 A380s,
Dubai International will be
the base for 90,
the world's biggest fleet
of the world's biggest passenger plane.
In 2012, more A380s flew
out of Dubai International
than from any other airport.
But the airport is desperate
for more space
to park these huge jets
and is building the world's
first A380-only concourse.
It's cost $3.2 billion,
and today a make-or-break test
is about to begin.
1,800 volunteers
will pretend to be passengers
who need to get mock flights.
Feedback from the trial
is of vital importance,
as it's the last chance to highlight
any major operational issues
before the new concourse opens
for live flights in 18 days' time.
Is he going to have a script?
He's going to have a script?
We're going to get you a script, yeah.
What would you like? Would you like
to be a connecting passenger
- or just a regular passenger arriving?
- Connecting.
PAUL: Be a rush connect, yes.
WOMAN: Definitely, I like
the idea of rushing fast.
NARRATOR: The trial is so important,
the chief executive
Paul Griffiths and his family
are going to pose as passengers
to see how things work.
So he's the boss today.
- Is he?
- Not you.
If for any reason the data we collect
from our hundreds of volunteers today
suggests that all is not well
and there is a risk on opening day
of something not going to plan,
I shan't have any, any hesitation at all
in pulling the opening day.
We've only got this one opportunity
to make that absolutely
mega first impression.
The OR team have done the capacity study,
and found that it's
NARRATOR: Concourse A will increase
the airport's passenger capacity
from 60 to 75 million
and provide parking for 33
of the Emirates' A380s.
But 18 days from opening,
Concourse A is not finished.
PAUL: One thing that does concern me
is clearly the construction
is still ongoing.
We've got 528,000 square meters
of terminal here.
Not all of it's ready.
We've got glass missing
in some of the panels,
the lounges aren't ready,
so we've got to be very careful
about setting the right expectation here.
NARRATOR: It's 9:00 a.m. on trial day,
and volunteers are arriving at Terminal 3,
where they're given a script detailing
their passenger roles.
Their first task is to get to
Concourse A via the APM,
an automated shuttle train.
This is the new signage standard,
which is far more visible
than what we've got
in the other terminals.
- You'll be rolling that out everywhere?
- PAUL: Yeah, exactly.
NARRATOR: Once at Concourse A,
the volunteers will have to check in
and find their way to departure gates
for mock A380 flights.
Some of the scripts will ask them to eat
in the restaurants and cafés
and shop in duty-free.
At the trial HQ, Damien Bolton
is briefing his operations team.
So with the trial command center,
communications will be centralized here.
Keep radio chatter down to the minimum.
Backup is the mobile phones.
You've got a contact list
at the back of your management script.
DAMIEN: A critical part
to the whole success of this trial
will be the gate boarding processes.
We'll definitely identify
one or two things we can improve on,
and that's the whole point of it.
NARRATOR:
Damien's team have planned the trial
and are there to oversee
and gather feedback from the day.
So have a good trial.
We're good to go.
NARRATOR:
Upstairs, the trial gets under way.
Well, let's follow the signage
and see if we can find
the business class lounge. Right.
Okay, well, so far I have no clue.
Right.
NARRATOR: Along with chief executive Paul,
who's tasked with finding
the business lounge,
two Russian volunteers, Elena and Lana,
are also playing the part of passengers.
We are going to the shower,
because we flew for 15 hours
and now it's a stopover,
so we need to take a shower.
NARRATOR: According to their script,
they now have a long wait
before they need
to board their transfer flight.
This one.
ELENA: Yes.
It's closed.
Okay, tough luck with the shower.
NARRATOR: It's a partial success.
They've found the showers,
but can't get inside.
No shower today.
NARRATOR: It's just one more thing
that needs fixing.
Okay, where shall we go?
NARRATOR: Keeping airlines'
multibillion-dollar fleets flying
is a huge challenge
for the airport's engineering teams.
When an A380 lands,
up to 386 tons of aircraft
hits the runway at 240 kilometers an hour.
The undercarriage, or landing gear,
takes the whole load.
All right, mate,
what have you changed on it?
NARRATOR: Today Daryn Howell
is carrying out a safety test
on the landing gear of the third A380
to join the Emirates fleet.
Echo Delta Charlie.
This is an A380,
biggest aircraft we've got here.
Biggest aircraft anyone's got.
NARRATOR: Daryn's first task
is to raise the aircraft off the ground
so he can test the landing gear safely.
He can do it
with just three special jacks.
Together these can hold
up to 350,000 kilograms.
Keeping this massive jet
a few centimeters off the ground
can be just as demanding
as keeping it at 30,000 feet.
Okay, fine,
we take the aircraft up higher.
MAN: Jack!
All right, you want to be up
a little bit higher, mate.
MAN: Jack, jack.
NARRATOR: Get it wrong, and the stresses
put on different parts of the plane
could damage this $390 million superjet.
A little bit further up.
NARRATOR: It's essential
Daryn communicates clearly
with the flight engineer on board,
as well as the ground crew
operating the jacks.
- Left hand up, is that what you want?
- MAN: Yes, please.
- Left up!
- Left up.
- DARYN: Left up.
- Up!
MAN: And you've got about a foot
between the lowest wheel and the ground?
NARRATOR: The plane must be raised
at least 30 centimeters
so that when the doors are opened
and the undercarriage is released,
it won't hit the ground.
Yeah, there's at least a foot clearance
between the forward wheel and the ground.
MAN 1: Stop.
MAN 2: Yeah, okay.
Take the nose up a little.
- Nose up a bit, nose up.
- MAN 3: Nose up?
- DARYN: Nose up.
- MAN 3: Nose up!
NARRATOR:
The massive jet is 73 meters long
and 24 meters tall at the tail.
Both mains up, you can go all up.
MAN: All up.
NARRATOR: It has to be eased up
a few centimeters at a time.
The wrong way could spell disaster.
MAN: Let's take up the right hand only.
He wants to go right only.
The level. Hold the left.
MAN: Hold.
Hold on the right, hold on the right.
Keep the nose going, hold the right.
Hold, hold, hold!
MAN 2: Hold, hold.
DARYN: That's got to be all, mate.
Let us know when you're level.
MAN: All level here.
All right, so you're all level?
MAN: All secure, all clear.
DARYN: Just checking for clearance.
We got to make sure
no one walks anywhere near this gear
when it goes up.
Right, we're about ready to go at last.
NARRATOR: Over in the world's
first A380-only concourse,
mock passengers Elena and Lana
Zone F, where do we go?
NARRATOR: are still trying
to find their way around.
Gate 0-4. That side, see?
ELENA: Ah, that's-- So we are in Zone F?
MAN: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Their first task,
to inspect the showers,
was unsuccessful.
They're now trying to track down
the currency exchange,
but they're having trouble with the signs.
Good morning.
Hi, good morning.
I don't see any sign
for the currency exchange.
All the ATMs are here,
but currency exchange
NARRATOR: But soon hit more trouble.
I am lost. It's such a huge terminal.
NARRATOR: The trial has
been going for almost an hour.
Chris Garton, senior vice president
of airport operations,
is at the command center
to check on progress.
The team have no idea of the problems
volunteers are having up in departures.
Have we any issues at all?
MAN: Not that we're aware of.
So far, so good.
All right, no worries.
All we need to do is collect
in the forms anyway.
So, I mean, we've got to get
the forms from the gates,
they've got to be brought down
to the arrivals,
plus then the final arrivals
forms as well.
NARRATOR: As part of the trial,
volunteers are given
a departure gate to find
Thank you, sir.
NARRATOR: as if they were
getting on a real flight.
- Thank you.
- Have a good day.
If you can't get a passenger on a plane,
you know, that's a fundamental
sort of problem we've got.
NARRATOR: It's critical
the senior team find out today
if there are any operational problems
with the gates,
before real passengers
and planes arrive in 18 days' time.
Thank you. Please have
a seat in the holding lounge.
Bye-bye.
NARRATOR: In the engineering hangar,
with the A380 raised off the ground,
Daryn can start the tests
on the landing gear.
Wing gears, they're out on the wings,
body gears, in the middle.
We've got four tires on each wing gear,
six tires on each body gear.
NARRATOR: The wheels are being tested
as part of a major overhaul
due every 18 months.
Each wheel and tire weighs
around 255 kilograms.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Daryn and the team
will need to check each of the 22 tires.
The whole set costs two million dollars.
$90,000 US per tire.
We're looking at a lot
of money's worth of tires.
NARRATOR: Today, Daryn will test
every element of the landing gear.
First, the doors.
Hydraulics!
Wing gear's coming down again.
Okay, doors are all opening nice.
We just want to make sure
the doors are operating correctly.
No fun retracting landing gear
and having the doors not open properly.
NARRATOR: On the engineer's command,
the jumbo wheels retract perfectly,
and the ten undercarriage doors
close smoothly.
When the jet is airborne,
it takes 30 seconds to extend
and retract the landing gear.
Yeah, wing gear doors going up now.
One cycle!
When you're in flight,
you've got some nice,
big hydraulic pumps on the engines,
and they provide a heap of hydraulic power
to pull this great, big,
huge landing gear up into the aircraft.
NARRATOR: The hydraulic system
for the landing gear
operates at incredibly high pressure,
5,000 PSI.
DARYN: Well, we've checked
the normal extension, retraction.
All works good.
Doors look great. We're happy with that.
NARRATOR: The hydraulics
are operating as they should.
But in case they don't work,
the A380 is designed with a fail-safe.
We have another system
that lets the gear come down
without hydraulics.
NARRATOR:
With the hydraulics now shut down,
Daryn needs to test
to ensure the backup kicks in
and the undercarriage doors will open.
Okay, free fall!
MAN: Ground, I'm doing
the free-fall extension.
Okay, going down, going down.
NARRATOR:
The sophisticated backup system is
gravity.
In the air, the pilot would just open
the undercarriage doors
and let the wheels drop out.
That all went quite well.
Everything went up smooth,
everything came down smoothly.
NARRATOR: Daryn's test
of the landing gear has been a success.
About ready to go back into service.
NARRATOR:
The A380 Daryn has been working on
is just one of 90 Emirates A380s
that will be based at Dubai International,
the world's largest fleet.
The airline's 25th A380
has just been delivered
and is scheduled to make
its maiden flight in the next 24 hours.
But before it can fly,
the aircraft must go through
essential pre-flight checks
and a final interior fit-out
by the engineering department.
We have magazine racks,
we have perfume holders,
equipment for the lavatories.
We have the wheelchair
that climbs up the staircase.
Once these modifications are carried out,
it becomes a part of our Emirates fleet.
NARRATOR: Part of today's fit-out
includes safety equipment,
which must be added before the new jet
can make its first commercial flight.
We have installation
of all the security and safety items,
extra survival kits,
we have vests, we have first-aid kits,
all specifically designed
for Emirates aircraft.
NARRATOR: When the checks are done,
this A380 will be towed over
to its departure gate
for its inaugural flight to Australia.
The A380 may be the world's
largest passenger plane,
and the only one with two full decks,
but it still fills up.
In Terminal 3, Mahmood Alam
is halfway through his shift.
Every day we have something new,
and every day we learn
something challenging.
NARRATOR: Right now Mahmood's challenge
is to magic up two seats
on a plane that's completely full.
Paul and Elizabeth Thompson
from Canada are on their way
to take the trip of a lifetime to India.
Despite arriving early to check in,
they discover they've been bumped
from their connecting flight to Delhi.
It's been overbooked,
which leaves Mahmood
with an unpleasant job.
The flight is full.
Including first class or business class?
Including first, including business.
Now, why they have called you over here
is so that we can explain it to you,
that in case if you didn't get seats,
if we are not able
to accommodate you on this flight,
we'll be transferring you
to the next flight, which is immediately.
And that flight will be--
I'll give you the exact information--
Is 516, which is departing
at 10:05 in the morning.
10:05 in the morning.
In the morning on the 24th?
On the 24th.
On top of that
we'll give you a free ticket,
which will be for the same sectors
which you are using now.
In our case,
that free ticket won't be useful to us.
In case
This is, this is what we call
a bucket-list trip for us,
a once-in-a-lifetime chance
to go to India.
We would get in to Delhi at what time?
Your Delhi arrival time may be at 14:45
local time in India, ma'am.
- 2:45?
- Yes.
NARRATOR:
Even though their flight is overbooked,
Mahmood is still going to try
and get the Thompsons on board.
Plan A is to hope that some passengers
simply don't turn up.
MAHMOOD: Let me see.
You never know, maybe you'll get a seat.
All right.
NARRATOR: To minimize empty seats
and maximize revenues,
it's common policy among airlines
to overbook flights.
MAHMOOD: It depends upon the season.
Mostly, all the flights
we get no-show passengers,
from three to four to five passengers.
That's why we have to overbook.
Every airline, we have overselling.
Yes.
MAHMOOD:
Most of them, when they buy tickets,
they don't read the terms and conditions
which are on the tickets.
NARRATOR: But if everybody shows up,
the airline has a problem.
When they come to know
that they have no seats on the flight,
while they have booked the seats,
they have confirmed tickets,
that's the point that they're very angry,
and that's the time you can see
it's a little bit stressful.
I'm taking a flight
that was originally from Toronto to Dubai,
and it continues on from Dubai to Delhi.
Now, because the flights to Dubai,
direct flights from Toronto
are not every night,
what happens is I had to take
a 30-hour stopover in Dubai.
NARRATOR: Despite being confirmed
on the flight to Delhi,
the Thompsons did not check in online.
I was pretty upset,
given the fact that as soon as the 24-hour
window to log in becomes available,
people can grab any seat on the airline.
NARRATOR: As a result, the couple
now don't have seats on the flight.
And they've just said,
"Well, the flight's oversold,
and you're kind of out of luck."
I'm obviously not happy with that.
(indistinct)
We still have five
more passengers to come,
and we have four seats.
We have to try our level best
to accommodate these passengers
who are on tour.
NARRATOR: With over an hour to go
before the Delhi flight is due to depart,
Mahmood is still hopeful
that Plan A will work.
So I'm going to still try.
Most probably there are some passengers--
I'm seeing in the system
they have cancellation--
They'll be having the seats
on first priority.
NARRATOR: Over at Concourse A,
today's crucial passenger trial
is not sticking to the script.
Chief executive Paul Griffiths is still
trying to find the business lounge.
There you go. Look.
There's the first mention of it there.
Yeah, there's a problem here, isn't there?
PAUL: I've got some concerns.
Some of the signage
isn't exactly as we wanted it to be.
I think actually in some respects,
we may have too much signage.
There's too many arrows pointing people
in different directions.
NARRATOR: In 18 days the new concourse
is scheduled for its grand opening.
But Paul is anxious that the business
and first class lounges
won't be ready in time.
PAUL: I get more nervous the higher we go.
I mean, look at this.
MAN: I know.
At the end of the day,
there's going to be drilling, sawing.
PAUL: You can't expose
our premium customers to this, can you?
MAN: Well, A, they won't be coming here,
'cause the lounge isn't ready,
but the point is
PAUL: But even so,
there'll be dust in the air,
there'll be the smell of adhesive,
you know, the whole thing.
So, look, look. This isn't, this is not
really safe for us to go through.
This is still a hard hat area, you see.
MAN: Yeah, yeah, it is, yeah.
Well, as you say, we really
shouldn't be in here, should we?
PAUL: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Paul also has to worry
that in less than 24 hours,
there will be a make-or-break inspection
by an important member
of the Dubai royal family.
PAUL: The first and business class lounges
are still work in progress.
And my concern, of course,
is that those passengers
pay much higher fares.
So if things aren't up to scratch,
and they decide not to use
Dubai in the future,
that's a serious loss of business.
NARRATOR: At the engineering hangars,
Emirates' newest A380 has
finished its checks.
But by now it should be over
at the departure gate,
where Nizel Fernandes must
get it away on time.
I'm looking forward
to dispatching this one.
It's still in the hangar,
just waiting for it to be towed in,
so we can start our activities.
Can you update me on the status,
where is this aircraft, please?
NARRATOR:
To ensure aircraft leave on schedule,
dispatchers have to coordinate the loading
of cargo, baggage, and passengers.
With the aircraft a no-show,
Nizel is already losing time.
We'll try to reduce
the delay as much as possible
and try to get it as close as
possible to the departure time.
But definitely we will have
a certain amount of delay.
(device beeping)
NARRATOR:
Nizel can't begin to claw back time
until the aircraft arrives.
Until it does, everything is on hold.
Not an auspicious start
for an inaugural flight.
Inside Terminal 3,
the Thompsons' trip of a lifetime in India
is hanging in the balance.
They've been bumped off
their onward flight to Delhi
because it's overbooked.
Mahmood is hoping
that some passengers don't show up,
so he can still get them on the flight.
So far I'm seeing that it's not that good,
they don't have that good chance.
We have another one hour,
or say 55 minutes more.
NARRATOR:
Airlines routinely overbook flights,
and usually they get away with it.
But not this time.
It's a big problem for Mahmood,
and it's only getting bigger.
Here's our problem.
If we were to take the later flight
The morning flight, yes, ma'am.
Um-- The tour people won't be able
to meet us at the airport.
They're only staying
at the airport until 12:00 noon.
Okay.
So we'll have no way of connecting to the
hotel or connecting to those people.
We miss our transfer, hotel transfer.
- Okay.
- Okay.
So that's our difficulty in that.
NARRATOR: The Thompsons must get on
their original flight to Delhi.
I already spoke to my colleague.
If he got some passengers
over there, it will be easier.
Then we may be able to accommodate you.
You may have to bear with me
some more time, ma'am.
I understand, that's fine.
NARRATOR: So far Plan A hasn't worked.
It looks like all the passengers
have shown up.
Mahmood must now turn to Plan B.
He and his colleagues
must find two passengers
willing to give up their seats
for the Thompsons.
I wanted to travel to India,
I've never been.
This is probably my one and only chance
and my one and only trip,
and Emirates have kind
of screwed a portion of this.
So that gives me a bit of anxiety.
NARRATOR: Finally there's
a glimmer of hope for the Thompsons.
Mahmood's lucked out with
one passenger no-show,
but they must work flat out
to find a passenger to volunteer
to take another flight.
So far, like, this thing is now
a little bit challenging,
as they are in need of travel,
must on this flight,
so we have to try our best
to accommodate them.
NARRATOR: At the trial in Concourse A,
staff are waiting to see
if volunteer passengers
can find the departure gates
for their mock A380 flights.
Now Dubai to Khartoum,
we are missing minus four economy.
If they don't turn up by twelve o'clock,
you close the gate.
WOMAN: Okay.
NARRATOR: As with a real departure,
these mock passengers have deadlines.
If they don't get there
before the gate closes,
they will miss their flight.
It could be maybe they're somewhere
either shopping or eating,
and they couldn't check the time,
the departure time on time, see.
NARRATOR: Fifteen minutes later,
the passengers are still a no-show.
As they would for a real departure,
the crew must close the gate,
or the flight will be late
leaving the terminal.
I'll display gate closed,
so we'll close the gate now,
because the other passengers
haven't reported.
(indistinct)
NARRATOR: At the trial HQ,
Paul is sharing his concerns
with Chris Garton, his second-in-command.
We walked the entire
length of the building
looking for the lounges
and didn't see a single sign.
Yeah, yeah, there is
'Cause if you walk the outer core
- You'll only find them in the center.
- You'll only find them.
And then when they're in the central area,
they're actually facing away from you.
But I think actually the lounge condition
is going to be one of the big things,
because the business
and first class lounges,
particularly the business class lounge,
is still way, way away from completion.
CHRIS: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Back at the departure gates,
there's more evidence that
passengers are having trouble.
So I was looking for something else.
- You were shopping?
- According to the instructions.
Okay, so now for-- I'm sorry for that,
because you're late to gate,
because the gate now is closed.
And I believe your bags
are already offloaded,
so now you can proceed
to transfer desk level.
Tell them that you missed your flight,
so they're going to put you
for the next flight now.
- Okay.
- All right?
- Thanks.
- Sorry for that, thank you.
NARRATOR: Things aren't much better
for Damien and the operations team,
who are dealing with more lost volunteers.
Did you follow the arrival signage?
Did the arrival signage bring you here?
We asked for help.
And they sent us down
to the train station.
WOMAN: You need to be
the other side of that glass.
That's where we were.
That's where we were.
- You were there already?
- Yeah.
Come on, then. Let's have a walk.
MAN: You want to go out
on the arrivals route. Go with these guys.
NARRATOR:
Damien has to walk the volunteers out
to get them back on the trial test route.
There's no passenger routing
where these guys should actually come down
into that area of the APM.
Because they're effectively
coming down from the departures,
they're going through transfer.
So there seems to be some kind of breach
between the arrivals
and departures process.
I've got to work out where that is,
because we need to make a note of it.
Because obviously it's quite a big breach
to be doing that.
It's not what we call
a landside/airside security breach,
but we're not supposed to
mix arrivals and departing passengers.
Passengers have been misdirected,
because obviously they shouldn't be
arriving in this area here.
But from a trials perspective,
it's actually a positive result,
because we've identified something
that we need to deal with.
NARRATOR:
On the ramp, Nizel is still waiting
for Emirates' 25th A380 to turn up.
It's scheduled to make
its maiden flight to Melbourne
in an hour and a half,
but it hasn't even made it
from engineering to the departure gate.
(woman speaking, indistinct)
NARRATOR: Finally, the aircraft rolls up.
It's here now.
This is the new aircraft already here.
And let me go and do my job now.
NARRATOR: The aircraft
turnaround team have one hour
to get this brand-new A380 ready to leave.
NIZEL: We are behind schedule
by at least 15 minutes.
So I'm expecting the aircraft
to go at 11:00 in the morning.
We are 10:06 now.
We should get a boarding clearance
in the next 10 to 15 minutes,
and hopefully 40 minutes should be good
for our loading, for passengers.
NARRATOR:
But when the passengers do begin to board,
Nizel has a new issue to deal with.
It's a perennial problem
for a dispatcher--
Passengers that don't show up.
All right, now we are down
by one business class passenger
and two economy.
I'm expecting them in
the next five minutes.
If in the next five minutes
they don't turn up,
I need to initiate an offloading,
or at least get their baggage on standby,
to further not delay anymore,
cause any more delay to the flight.
Now, I am just looking
at my screen here, and I have--
It's updating.
Uh, yes. Now one more dropped.
So we have only one business
and one economy missing.
NARRATOR:
With two passengers still missing,
the chances of this new A380
getting away at 11:00 a.m.
are looking slim.
Okay, we have two passengers missing
on the aircraft.
They have two bags
in a particular container.
Now I've got this copy here
which says in which container,
what passengers
Girl!
WOMAN: Yeah, he's here.
Okay.
We got an update,
passenger is located on board,
so we have boarding over.
We don't need to waste any more time
looking for the bags.
Mamat, boarding is over,
you can load everything.
NARRATOR:
With all the passengers on board,
the flight is closed.
Nizel and his colleagues
have made up lost time.
Checks complete, Nizel gives
the captain the final sign-off.
That's it, that's good.
No. Thanks a lot. Done.
Done, okay to close doors.
NARRATOR: Despite an unpromising start,
it's turned out to be
a good day for Nizel.
Time right now, 11:00, we have closed.
Aircraft ready for pushback.
Wonderful, a beautiful aircraft.
One of the best sights for a dispatcher.
We're here to dispatch an aircraft.
If you don't see this sight,
it's not good for us.
NARRATOR: In Terminal 3,
the Thompsons are still waiting
to see if they can get on
their flight to Delhi.
Success or failure depends on
whether Mahmood can find a passenger
to agree to take another flight.
If he can, the Thompsons will be able
to make their once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Okay, sir.
Now, the situation--
We have one seat available on the flight.
I've sent our supervisors,
which are already at the gates.
- Yes.
- They're going to get one more passenger,
a volunteer from the gates,
so that we can accommodate you
on the flight.
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry for that,
you have to just bear with me some time.
I'm trying my level best.
So let's not think about negative,
we'll think positive, so we can make it.
Okay, sir, just have a seat
for a few minutes more,
and we're trying our best.
If you work this out,
I will personally invite you
to Canada in January.
Thank you very much.
NARRATOR:
But they're not home and dry yet.
The team must approach
each one of the 358 passengers
individually
to find a volunteer
to take another flight.
Mahmood is feeling the heat.
The departure time, which is at 4:40--
At 25 we have to close the gates.
And before closing our gates
we have to sort this out.
Hopefully, some of them,
or one of them, will agree to this.
NARRATOR: All Mahmood can do is wait to
hear from his team at the departure gate.
The situation is out of his hands.
Everything is planned,
everything is prepared.
Just we get a call,
we get these passengers on,
take their baggage, and run to the gates.
NARRATOR: Twenty-five minutes before
the gate is scheduled to close,
there's still no news.
(indistinct) 318.
- Okay.
- MAHMOOD: Okay.
Hmm.
NARRATOR: Then
Okay, okay, very good.
Okay, all right, 318, yeah?
NARRATOR: their luck changes.
We got it.
Okay, put 318 on standby
and alert the other passenger.
So we got a passenger.
Let's get two hands for that.
Excuse me, sir.
PAUL: Is that two for victory?
MAHMOOD: That's two, victory and two.
Boarding passes?
MAHMOOD:
Okay, reference 318, put it on standby.
Sorry to make you wait, sir.
These are your boarding passes now.
You may proceed to the gates.
Aslam, lift.
Hurry up, hurry up.
NARRATOR: To make sure
the Thompsons make it to their flight,
Mahmood personally walks them
from check-in to the departure gate.
MAHMOOD: I'm quite happy about that.
At least they're traveling.
We have to keep them on the flight.
It makes for me a very good day.
NARRATOR: At the new concourse,
the passenger trial is drawing to a close.
There were 700 fewer volunteers
than expected,
and Paul is worried that Concourse A
has not been tested to its limits.
What about numbers,
'cause we were hoping to get, what, 1,800?
The actual people checked in was 1,128.
I think it was quite evident today,
once you disperse that amount of people,
it did look empty up there, didn't it?
PAUL: Well, that was my,
one of my concerns,
that were we really doing
any form of stress test?
WOMAN: I think at the gates we were.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: And if the concourse
has not been tested
as fully as Paul would have liked,
Tara Durnin has even more bad news.
There's four common things, five actually.
The first one is the feedback
on the train journey--
Fast, jerky, uncomfortable.
Just lots and lots of feedback
on the train rides.
The second is the wayfinding.
So many people,
we witnessed it ourselves here,
particularly the arrivals wayfinding.
People just generally
from the connections area
coming down and ending up here,
when they should be over there.
- Um, the third--
- (PA, indistinct)
Third thing was the PA, way too loud.
Departures level especially,
piercingly loud.
The temperature, funny enough,
was too cold.
Lots of complaints.
It's clear the air conditioning
in most places
is not yet regulated, is it, yeah.
And then the last one was
there's quite a lot of feedback
on the gates and the boarding process.
NARRATOR: Based on the feedback,
there are clearly issues
that need to be addressed
from today's trial.
But there's worse to come.
In less than 24 hours,
there will be a royal inspection
by the ultimate boss,
His Highness Sheikh
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Concourse A must have
his final seal of approval
before it can open.
The A380 isn't the only thing
that's crucial
to the success of Dubai Airport.
Cargo also plays a vital role.
Dubai International is the third busiest
cargo airport in the world,
transporting over two million tons
of freight per year.
Much of that is to provide
a desert city with supplies
that can't be sourced locally,
including flowers and food.
But the airport is also vital for
preserving an ancient and royal passion.
David Robson of Equitrans is on his way
to greet some VIP passengers.
We've got 20 horses
coming from London to Dubai,
17 purebred Arab racehorses.
And then there's two polo ponies
and a quarter horse.
We try and have arrivals
that are at night,
so that they can come off
without, you know,
facing too much of a change in temperature
from where they come from.
NARRATOR: After a summer in Europe,
the horses are returning
to Dubai for the winter.
DAVID: These horses are
the Royal Cavalry of Oman,
which is horses that belong
to the Sultan of Oman,
His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos.
They have just been to the UK to race.
They usually go do
a racing season in the UK
and then come back here,
race in Oman and in Dubai as well.
So, yeah, there's a bit more pressure on
with the racehorses.
We want to make sure everything
goes like clockwork.
You want to be doubly sure that there's
no possibility of any injury whatsoever
which could put them out of training.
NARRATOR: Lieutenant Colonel Hamood
of the Royal Cavalry
has turned out in person
to meet the valuable cargo.
He'll escort them
to the royal stables in Muscat, Oman,
five hours away by road.
How are you doing, Hamood, all good?
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah?
NARRATOR: The horses have been
flown in from London Heathrow
on a Boeing 777 cargo plane,
with a cabin that is pressurized
and temperature controlled.
Just like regular passengers,
horses can suffer from jetlag,
which can be made worse
if they don't drink enough water.
DAVID: What we normally do is we get on
to see if the horses have had
any problems on the flight.
Sometimes horses don't drink so well,
they could be dehydrated.
So if we have any problems,
then the first thing we do
is we'd like to get a vet here, you know,
to see if they need
to be rehydrated and so on.
NARRATOR: After initial checks,
David discovers that one of the horses
appears to be dehydrated.
They must get her unloaded
as quickly as possible
so they can assess her condition.
There's a mare that didn't drink too well.
What we do is once we get her off,
the boys will walk her a bit, water her.
It's about five hours from here to Muscat,
so we just want to make sure
before we put her on the box
that she's okay.
If she's got her head quite low,
and then we know she's fairly dehydrated,
then we'll have to call a vet.
NARRATOR: A cargo flight
with 20 prized royal horses
worth between $100,000 and $300,000 apiece
is nothing new for David.
We can transport
anything from a happy hacker,
which would cost about 2,000 pounds,
to about-- the most expensive horse we've
moved is about three million dollars.
NARRATOR: It's cost around
$7,000 to transport each horse.
David must ensure that this valuable cargo
is in perfect condition,
before traveling on by road
to the royal stables in Oman.
It's quite demanding,
this part of the world as well,
because people would like things done
as soon as possible.
What we try and do is
as soon as they come off,
the boys break down the stalls,
and then if we've got grooms
that have come to pick up the horses,
we take off one at a time.
NARRATOR: But the mare which is dehydrated
needs to be assessed and deemed fit
before she's allowed to travel.
In the meantime, David updates Lieutenant
Colonel Hamood of the Royal Cavalry.
Horses traveled well.
Chris was saying that probably
one of the mares
didn't drink so well.
NARRATOR: There are still
a number of horses to get off the flight.
Among them is champion racehorse Muhal.
Now he's a nine-year-old,
raced at Newbury in the handicap racing,
won two races recently there.
Done fairly well, actually.
I'd say he's probably
about 100,000 pounds.
NARRATOR:
On board the horses are separated,
so stallions, geldings,
and mares travel separately.
But after seven hours flying,
tempers are fraying.
Some of the stallions can get a bit macho,
and the stallion was having
a go at the gelding.
He kept biting him a couple of times.
NARRATOR: Muhal soon calms down,
and after taking on fluids,
the dehydrated mare is considered fit
to continue on the journey to Oman.
Just that one mare
which we've just looked at,
she's fine as well, you know,
they're all looking good.
No cuts, no bruises,
which we're really happy about.
NARRATOR: Eager to get going,
the grooms load up the last few horses.
Well, they look great, you know.
They look nice.
They had a very good journey,
that's the most important.
And it will be easy then
for them to start on again.
Thank you very much.
No worries, look after yourself.
And have a safe trip, yeah.
NARRATOR: This precious cargo
is now on its way
to the royal stables
in air-conditioned horse boxes.
DAVID: I'd say fairly good.
It's about two hours, 15 minutes actually.
So not too bad for the number
of horses we had on.
Horses get out before the sun comes up,
so they should be in Oman
for about eleven o'clock.
NARRATOR: Having been put
to the test and found wanting,
can Concourse A open as scheduled
in 17 days' time?
Clearly, it is a big day,
because if we're not ready,
and they tell us we're not ready,
then we've got to think what
our strategy is for opening.
So it's going to be a tough day, really.
NARRATOR: Paul is on his way
to meet His Highness
Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum,
an important member
of Dubai's ruling family.
Without his blessing,
Concourse A can't open.
Sheikh Ahmed clearly is
the ultimate authority
over the entire aviation sector,
so it will be his decision
exactly what we do.
NARRATOR: Sheikh Ahmed has to balance
two conflicting demands--
He's the ultimate boss
of Emirates Airline,
which needs Concourse A open
as soon as possible
for its rapidly expanding fleet of A380s.
Good morning, everybody.
NARRATOR: But he is also
the ultimate boss of the airport,
where chief executive Paul is very mindful
of the kind of high-profile failure
suffered by London and Berlin
in opening prematurely.
PAUL: We all know what happens
if you open an airport badly.
There are unfortunately
many examples around the world
where decisions have been made to open,
and the facility hasn't been ready.
I'd rather take the risk,
open late and do it perfectly,
than have to open imperfectly on time.
NARRATOR: The royal tour inspects
the business and first class lounges,
which have been completely
transformed in just 24 hours.
Then it's onto another vital
part of the new concourse,
one which will provide
a big chunk of the airport's revenue.
You know, for Dubai International Airport,
we need such a big area.
As you know, today,
Dubai duty-free is one of
the largest, or the largest,
today in terms of revenue--
Over $1.5 billion.
NARRATOR: Tour over,
Sheikh Ahmed must decide
if he's happy for Concourse A
to open as planned.
I'm happy with the progress I've seen
over the last few months.
And I think because
the whole team are working 24/7,
you know, I think it will be ready.
NARRATOR: That's it.
Concourse A has got
the royal seal of approval.
I think passengers would love the place.
NARRATOR: But for the team
it's a mixed blessing.
PAUL: Obviously, I'm hugely relieved
that he likes what he's seen so far.
But, of course, that just means that
the pressure's even greater.
We've now got to deliver,
because that's his expectation
as well as the expectation
of everyone else.
NARRATOR: Concourse A is far from ready,
but the ambition to open
remains unchanged.
He has just 17 days to deliver
a functioning new concourse.
But for Paul,
if it's not ready, it won't open.
PAUL: This is a huge undertaking.
There's an awful lot to be done.
There are thousands of people
still working on-site.
And I just hope that everything
will come together
on the 2nd of January.
If it doesn't, we won't open.
Captioned by Pixelogic Media