Ultimate Airport Dubai (2013) s01e10 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, John's hunting
for tiny pieces of metal
that could spell disaster
for multi-million-dollar aircraft.
The worst thing that could happen,
that would be an aircraft incident.
NARRATOR: Will Mustapha track
down four missing passengers
before the Perth flight leaves?
All right, then,
I'll wait for your call, yeah?
We're not going to do any move
till you call me, yeah?
NARRATOR: And in engineering,
there are headaches
for Mian Talat and the team,
squeezing a huge jet out of the hangar.
Moving such a big machine
is a risky thing to do.
It's moving too fast.
NARRATOR: Planes are
the lifeblood of any airport,
but they are machines with limits
on how far and how fast they can go
and how much they can carry.
Every plane has a maximum takeoff weight.
The heavier the plane,
the more fuel it burns.
Excess baggage fees are one way
the airline industry uses
to keep their operating costs down.
In Terminal 3, Arti Mehra's overseeing
the morning rush hour at check-in.
Right at the far end of the Yeah.
NARRATOR: It's her job
to troubleshoot luggage problems
however unusual,
which could delay flights.
With 3,000 bags checked in an hour,
Arti's always at full stretch.
I think this is part
of a group for Dhaka, right?
Yeah.
Ticket detail.
NARRATOR: Arti's also dealing
with a flight to Mumbai.
Today, it's a full flight
with lots of excess baggage.
It's because of the shopping,
really, in Dubai.
It's slightly cheaper than
what they can buy back home.
NARRATOR: Flat-screen TVs
are a hot favorite.
Okay, how many televisions do we have?
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Total ten televisions at the moment?
- MAN: Yeah.
- Yeah?
Oh, my God.
Somebody's been shopping.
NARRATOR: When it comes
to checked-in baggage,
if it's within the weight allowance,
anything goes.
Within reason.
Anything that fits within that belt
that can turn around is acceptable,
as long as it's personal baggage.
Televisions welcome.
Just one moment, please.
NARRATOR: Economy passengers
have a 30-kilogram allowance.
Anything over, and they face
a charge of $15 a kilo.
ARTI: We need to tag them also, no?
You have any more bags to check in?
- MAN: Yeah.
- Put them on that belt, please.
WOMAN: Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
12, 14, 16, 18 baggage.
Okay.
WOMAN: But whole group have 20 person.
That's all right.
WOMAN: It's okay, yeah? All right.
Not have excess baggage.
NARRATOR: With 20 people
in the whole group,
ten TVs and eight suitcases
is within the limits.
No excess.
Meanwhile, another passenger is returning
from a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
He's laden down with holy trophies,
which have pushed him over his limit.
MAN: His allowance is 50 kilos.
Fifty KGs.
MAN: Only two kilos you have excess,
two kilos we have allowed.
- Yeah.
- MAN: Now in spite of that,
we have 33 kilos of hand baggage
plus one Zamzam water.
- Okay, we can add the Zamzam water.
- Okay, this one is leaking.
And the rest
You'll have to take that Zamzam
and get it wrapped, please.
Zamzam we will be able to take
free of charge.
The rest of the bags
you will have to pay excess.
It's different. Every day is different.
NARRATOR: Along with two kilos of excess,
the passenger has ten kilos
of holy water from the Zamzam well.
Emirates has a policy of allowing each
passenger one container of Zamzam,
whether it's a bottle or whatever.
All we need to ensure
is that it's not leaking
so it doesn't damage the other baggage.
Just make sure that
the porter is told, yeah?
Don't release it.
NARRATOR: A few minutes later,
a man from the Lagos flight
comes over to Arti with an unusual
excess baggage problem.
- These are all your bags?
- Yes.
- And how much is the excess?
- WOMAN: Sixty-five.
Sixty-five, all right, okay.
Now what I'll do, I'm very sorry,
I'm very sorry to know about this,
but we will do our best.
I'll go and speak to my duty officer,
and I'll see how best we can help you.
I don't promise,
and I don't see that we will be able
to allow you all the excess,
but certainly we'll be able to help you.
All right?
NARRATOR: With 65 kilograms of excess,
these business class passengers
are facing a bill
of almost $2,000.
But their circumstances are exceptional.
He just pleaded for help,
"Would you be able to help me, lady?"
He told me that the reason
they have excess baggage
is that they had taken
their child for treatment
to India, to Bombay,
and the child died during the treatment,
which is very sad.
NARRATOR: The couple buried
their child in India,
but they still have to bring
their belongings home.
Originally, when they had
traveled as a family,
there were three passengers going back,
and obviously they had allowance
for three passengers,
but now there were just the two of them.
NARRATOR: Although the child had a ticket,
airline policy dictates
that if a person doesn't turn up
for their flight,
the seat is given to another passenger,
the baggage allowance forfeited.
To help this family,
Arti must do all she can
to reduce their excess.
Is there anything that you are carrying
in your hand baggage?
- This whole bag.
- Lights.
And something for the
The reason I say that,
that you're allowed to take
ten kilos of hand baggage per person,
so that will help you to reduce
your excess weight.
NARRATOR: If they can fit 20 kilos
in their combined hand luggage,
they could drop
their excess bill by around $600.
What I'm going to do,
you sort this hand baggage thing out,
and I'll go and speak to my duty officer
and see how best we can help you.
- MAN: All right.
- Okay?
- Thank you.
- All right, you're welcome.
Don't worry, we'll sort it out.
NARRATOR: The excess
is now down to 45 kilos,
but still almost $1,400.
It's over to Arti to find a way out
for the bereaved family.
Passenger jets undergo
incredible wear and tear,
so every aircraft must have
a major overhaul called a C-Check
at least every 18 months.
A C-Check strips an aircraft down,
and critical parts like the engine and
tail fin are inspected.
The fuselage is also examined for cracks
that could be a sign of metal fatigue.
These overhauls vary in length,
but the schedule is always tight
for Mian Talat Abbas and his team.
TALAT: This check is for 12 days.
Twelfth day airplane has to go out
because it is already committed
on some scheduled flights,
it is already The seats have been sold.
I want two guys on the wing,
you two on the wing, yeah.
I will control the ground control.
Tariq, you'll be in the cockpit.
NARRATOR: This plane came in with fuel,
so the engineers could power it up
and do some system checks,
but it's too risky to do
the main part of this overhaul
with the fuel still inside the jet.
We need to off-load
around 15 tons of fuel,
15,000 kilograms of fuel,
from this airplane.
NARRATOR: The A330 has six fuel tanks,
storing up to 139,000 liters.
This is a safety issue, you know, like,
these are combustible things
we are talking about,
so we need to be very careful about it.
No fuel loading, unloading
can be performed in confined area.
It has to be outside.
NARRATOR: Mian Talat has made plans
for a tanker to siphon out the fuel.
They don't have what?
Listen, listen, tell me one thing.
Do you have space in your bowser
to unload 15 tons of fuel?
NARRATOR: But this defueling
is easier said than done.
That tanker already has fuel in it
from some other airplane,
so unless he takes out that fuel
from the tanker,
he don't have the space to take our fuel.
I'm going to call some guys,
other hangar guys,
ask them if they need some fuel,
any plan of refueling tonight,
and they can take his fuel,
so he will have space
in his tanker to take out our fuel.
NARRATOR: The team need to push
the plane out of the hangar,
next to the tanker,
but with a wingspan of 60 meters,
the margin for error is tight.
Moving such a big machine
in confined areas
is a risky thing to do.
We need to ensure that
when the airplane is moving,
it doesn't touch anything,
because if it touches,
it's not allowed to touch,
it will damage the airplane,
which is a very costly thing.
NARRATOR: With the push-back
vehicle in place
(whistles)
and engineers in the cockpit
ready to release the parking brake,
everyone is good to go.
(whistles) Jurim, wing clear?
Connect.
Parking brake is released?
Parking brake is released.
Okay. Pushback started.
NARRATOR: Mian Talat has been
fixing big jets for 30 years,
but shifting these
multi-million-dollar monsters
doesn't get any easier.
I've been doing it for a very long time.
I don't get nervous,
but I've become more careful.
NARRATOR: $208 million
worth of aircraft is ready to move.
Securely released the brake. Are you sure?
Yes, parking brake is released.
NARRATOR: The brake may be off,
but the plane isn't budging.
Just stand by for a minute.
The engineers resort to traditional
methods to try and release the brake.
Okay, tell him to give it a try.
Just try it now.
Okay.
I'll go see what's going on in the front.
NARRATOR: Shifting this plane
is proving a headache.
Delays put pressure
on the maintenance schedule
and means this jet could miss
its slot to go back into service
and delay the next plane
due in for its overhaul.
Brakes are on, still on.
What happened?
Brake is not releasing from the cockpit.
TALAT: We've got a problem
with the parking brake
because some of the systems
are disconnected
and we have opened few things up,
so we're going to sort this out.
NARRATOR: Until Mian Talat
gets the parking brake released,
the C-Check is on hold,
and this aircraft is stuck in the hangar.
NARRATOR: In Terminal 3,
Arti is trying to solve
a delicate situation
with excess baggage on the Lagos flight.
The couple have 45 kilos
of excess luggage and a hefty bill.
We do have our regulations,
and we are not allowed
to waive excess baggage
unless we have prior clearance
from managers.
NARRATOR: Their child died in India,
and they're returning home
with her belongings.
The excess baggage bill is around $1,400,
but if the child had been on the flight
their allowance would mean no excess.
This is the certificate of death, yeah,
for the child.
They're going on 781 to Lagos.
- Where's the baggage?
- It's there.
That's the duty officer.
He will see you, don't worry.
NARRATOR: Airline policy means
because the child hasn't shown up,
the baggage allowance has been lost.
The child allowance
NARRATOR: The duty officer needs to
override the airline computer systems
to make the allowance move happen,
but even he doesn't have the authority.
Now his boss is drafted in to help.
What we want to ascertain
is the child's ticket,
then we can put the comment
and give them the allowance.
NARRATOR: Finally they make
the computer say yes.
It's all taken care of, don't worry.
MAN: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
No, please.
I'm glad that you did approach.
- Yes.
- I'm very sorry about the news.
The Lord will take care, don't worry.
Amen, amen.
NARRATOR: At the Emirates
engineering hangar,
the team in the cockpit
are still struggling
to release the A330's parking brake.
(banging)
They must push the plane outside
where it's safe to defuel
before they can start a major overhaul,
but Mian Talat has a quick manual fix
to get this jet moving.
Manually we'll release the parking brakes.
This is on.
MAN: Okay.
NARRATOR: The parking brake has a manual
backup lever in the landing gear.
This can be released,
as they can't do it
electronically from the cockpit.
Waris! Amar!
Be on the headset. We are clear to go out.
Mr. Handi. Sleeping? Awake?
Awake? Good. Good for you.
(indistinct)
Okay!
This is the moment. We are about to move.
Keep a watch for the tip.
It's moving too fast.
NARRATOR: The ground team
pushing the plane
are keen to make up for lost time.
TALAT: Little bit slower.
Little bit slow, please.
We are moving too fast.
Just make it slow, little bit slow.
It's good enough.
This is good.
Yeah, it's good enough.
Now we are waiting
for the refueling vehicle to come.
We need to make sure that it comes
exactly in the right position
because we have got the flaps are down.
The vehicle should not touch the flaps.
If it hits it, of course it is
a tremendous amount of cost
involved for repair.
Everything okay?
Yes, sir.
You going to take samples?
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Before the fuel can be removed,
a sample must be tested for impurities.
This fuel is going to go
into another airplane,
so we need to ensure that there is--
It is not contaminated with water.
It can cause corrosions in the tanks.
It can starve the engine.
NARRATOR: If an engine suffers fuel
starvation while the plane is airborne,
it could shut down.
Water can get into an aircraft's fuel
tanks because of condensation.
If there's water in this fuel,
the white powder in the test kit
will change color.
We have taken a fuel sample.
It is clear, good.
There is no water contamination.
Now we're going to off-load the fuel.
Okay, start.
NARRATOR: With the tanker hose
in position on the A330's wing,
they're ready to siphon
the 15 tons of fuel.
There should be suction, no?
Can you hear suction?
No, no, no.
NARRATOR: It's one thing after another.
Now the fuel pump isn't working.
Okay, can you switch it off?
You need to reconnect.
I think there is something wrong
with the suction of this machine.
We are not able to
Can you tell Tariq to depower for a while,
and I will tell him when to power up.
Yeah, just kill the power now.
NARRATOR: In time-honored
engineering tradition,
they decide to switch the pump off
and back on again
to kick-start the suction.
TALAT: Amar!
Close the, close the valve.
Transfer valve, defuel valve, close.
I will, I will power up again.
- We are getting any suction?
- MAN: Yeah, it's starting to build up now.
TALAT: Yeah.
NARRATOR: The reboot works.
With the pump operational,
they're back in business.
We always manage to solve a problem.
There is no problem on an airplane
which cannot be solved.
NARRATOR: The delay has cost them
more than two hours
of their maintenance schedule,
but with 15 tons of fuel removed,
it's finally safe for the engineers
to strip this jet down for its overhaul.
Planes are robust, reliable machines
when properly maintained,
but they can be surprisingly vulnerable.
One of John Taylor's jobs
is to look for debris on the airfield
that could endanger a plane.
A FOD is foreign object debris,
so FOD can be anything
from a piece of paper to an aircraft part.
Foreign object debris can be
ingested into a jet engine.
Obviously the way a jet engine works
is it sucks in air,
so you've got a massive turbine,
and that could do massive damage
to a multi-million-dollar engine.
It could bend a blade,
it could hit a fuel line,
it could hit an oil line.
NARRATOR: FOD costs the aviation industry
more than $13 billion a year
in repairs, delays and fines.
But FOD is more than just
an expensive inconvenience.
The worst thing that could happen,
that would be an aircraft incident.
An aircraft incident could be
anything from a burst tire
to an aircraft being downed.
That's the worst-case scenario.
NARRATOR: In 2000, a strip of metal
just 43 centimeters long
caused the Air France Concorde crash,
killing 113 people.
John's starting his inspections today
with a FOD walk at the remote stands.
JOHN: Just going to come up and park
at the top of Charlie 28,
and what we're going to do
is we're going to go in an extended line.
We're just going to walk
all the stands with the other guys.
NARRATOR: Here, a plane
is at risk from FOD,
even while it's parked on the apron.
Esa, you ready?
ESA: Yeah, sure.
JOHN: Right, let's start this way, then.
We could find anything
from the zips off a suitcase,
luggage tags, little bits of paper.
There's such a wide range
of what you could call FOD.
Esa!
Yes.
JOHN: Can we have a look in the bag?
Here we've got a piece of wire
from someplace,
piece of tire.
This looks like it may have come
off a suitcase.
It's a small piece of plastic.
People might say,
well, that can't do anything.
If it goes in, it could hit a main pipe,
it could hit a fuel pipe, an oil pipe.
It could cause, worst-case scenario,
an incident on the ramp
that may involve fire.
So even this little bit of plastic,
it might just delay you,
it may just inconvenience you,
or it could make something
more serious happen.
NARRATOR: John's next FOD inspection
is on a much bigger scale.
We're going to go
and start a runway inspection.
We're going to do both runways.
At the moment, they're using
runway three zero left,
which is our southern runway,
for arrivals.
And three zero right for departures.
We always go with two vehicles
on the runway whenever possible.
It gives us a better visual.
The runway's round about 60 meters wide
from the centerline to the,
what we would class
as the start of the hard shoulder,
so by taking two vehicles,
we can split the workload.
We're going to go
onto the live runway now.
Air Traffic Control will give us
permission to go onto the runway
and will ask us to vacate
the runway when required.
NARRATOR: Going onto a live runway
means John has to do this inspection
while aircraft are still using it.
There is a small element of danger.
What we've done is
we've mitigated the risk
by actually doing the runway inspection
into oncoming traffic.
So that means as we drive up the runway,
the aircraft will be facing us.
That gives us another visual.
The minute I saw an aircraft coming in,
I'd vacate the runway.
NARRATOR: Driving live runways
is just another day at the office.
I love my job.
I suppose everyone wants to be a racing
car driver or a pilot when they're a kid.
Best thing about my job
is that I'm entrusted
with a multi-billion-dollar airfield,
and that makes me quite proud
to know that someone's put
their trust in me to do that.
I can't control everything,
but if I can stop one accident
or one incident happening in a shift,
then that to me
is a really, really good day.
NARRATOR: John starts his FOD inspection
on the arrivals runway.
With over 400 incoming flights a day,
driving a live runway
isn't for the faint-hearted.
JOHN: We've got about a two-minute gap.
CONTROLLER: Kilo one, proceed,
three zero left.
NARRATOR: Air Traffic Control
give John the go-ahead.
He now has a two-minute gap
to inspect a section
of the 4,000-meter runway.
(radio chatter)
JOHN: We're listening
to the radio transmission,
so we're listening out all the time
to make sure there hasn't been
a mistake made.
Because if someone's cleared to land
and we're still on the runway,
then we'll get straight off.
It's mandated that we do
five runway inspections every 24 hours.
We actually aim to do
eight every 24 hours.
All very good at the moment.
Nothing that is going
to cause us any alarm.
NARRATOR: But the job's not over yet.
Airlines have worked out
the optimum flying time on all journeys,
cruising at the most efficient speed.
It's possible to go faster,
but it burns more fuel,
so airlines are keen
to avoid late departures.
In Terminal 3, Mustapha Bourouche
is trying to get a late flight
back on track.
Hi, good morning, yeah.
NARRATOR: The gate for the Perth,
Australia flight closes in 30 minutes.
They should be boarding passengers,
but the plane arrived late.
But there's no let-up
in the schedule for Mustapha.
He must get the plane away
on time, whatever the problems.
We just opened the flight, my dear.
How can we start boarding?
Tell me, I forgot.
(laughs)
Call me back in ten minutes, please.
Thank you.
NARRATOR: The delayed plane
is at the gate,
but Mustapha can't start boarding
until it's cleaned
and made ready for passengers.
All right, then,
I'll wait for your call, yeah?
We're not going to do any move
till you call me, yeah?
No, you stand by one minute.
Okay, thank you.
Even the flight is late,
my aim is to try my best
to send it on time.
NARRATOR: Finally, Mustapha gets
the go-ahead to board passengers.
We're kindly inviting
our valuable passengers
traveling first class and business class
please to proceed to boarding
through this gate.
Other passengers, please,
traveling in economy class,
please remain seated
for a later announcement, thank you.
NARRATOR: The gate closes
in less than 15 minutes.
I'm missing four,
a group of two ex-Tehran,
one ex-Dublin and one ex-Heathrow.
NARRATOR: Four checked-in passengers
are not at the gate.
My job is to just to make sure
that wherever they are,
I have to do my best
to get them on the flight.
I'll do all my checks--
Call people, call everywhere,
make announcements,
if we can just get them to the gate.
This is it, I feel bad
they couldn't make it.
We still have five minutes on hand,
then we must start off-loading.
NARRATOR:
If the missing passengers don't turn up,
Mustapha will have to off-load their bags,
which in itself can delay the departure.
Out at the runways,
John's hunt for foreign object debris
didn't turn up any FOD to worry about.
It's 3:30, and he's heading
back out to the airfield
to close the departures runway
for crucial maintenance.
So we're going to go and meet the guys
for the runway closure
of three zero right.
I'm hoping that we're, everybody's ready,
and then we'll be ready
for the four o'clock closure.
NARRATOR: The runway will be
out of action for four hours,
until 8:00 p.m.
The guys are ready with the barriers,
our guys on the left-hand side,
and then this piece
of equipment's called an RCM,
which is a runway closure marker,
so we put one of those
either end of the runway.
And we use it as a visual aid
so that the pilot knows that
the runway's definitely closed.
It's another way of us
safeguarding the staff
on the actual runway.
NARRATOR: Access onto the runway needs
to be approved by Air Traffic Control.
JOHN: So I'm just going to call ATC now
just to make sure we're on time
for the runway closure at 4:00 o'clock.
NARRATOR:
With four maintenance crews standing by,
John must wait for ATC
to confirm it's safe
for him to shut the runway
before anyone sets foot on it.
JOHN: Tower, Ops One.
CONTROLLER: Ops One, what's your message?
Good afternoon, sir,
Ops One holding at Mike Alpha,
ready to close the runway
when you are, sir.
CONTROLLER: Check,
just one more departure.
Copy, one more departure, thanks, Ops One.
So we've only got one more departure
to go, and then we'll be able to close.
CONTROLLER: Emirates 55,
confirm departure, frequency 121,
just hold zero two five.
NARRATOR: It's 3:59.
The last plane from this runway
takes to the skies.
JOHN: Tower, Ops One, that's confirmed
that runway three zero right,
one two left is now closed.
NARRATOR: With the barriers in place
to warn taxiing aircraft,
it's now safe for the maintenance teams
to start work on the runway lights.
JOHN: These guys here
are actually cleaning the lights by hand.
If you've got an aircraft
going at any sort of speed
hitting these lights,
it can leave a rubber deposit on them.
So if a light becomes dim,
then there may be issues
when we go into low visibility.
NARRATOR: There are 260
centerline runway lights,
which are crucial to help pilots
land planes safely.
An hour into the four-hour runway closure,
John gets an emergency call
from Air Traffic Control.
A plane has driven too close
to the closed runway.
JOHN: So, he didn't go
through the barrier.
That's the whole point
of the barrier being there.
He's just taken a wrong turn.
If he'd come halfway up
and come near a works team,
they'd had to run out the way.
NARRATOR: A business jet
has driven right up
to one of the runway closure markers
that warn pilots that
the runway is out of action.
JOHN: An aircraft actually took
the wrong way on the runway.
First information we had
was that it had turned right,
but then corrected itself, gone left.
NARRATOR: As more news filters in,
the incident ramps up
into something far more serious.
JOHN: But now ATC
have reviewed the footage
and they're saying it's actually
gone past the barrier.
He's actually turned right
and entered the runway itself
and gone past one of the checkerboards.
So we're just going to go
and see the pilot,
go and try and get an explanation from
him, get a written statement off him,
and we'll actually put it through our
reporting system as an incident now.
NARRATOR: The rogue jet is up ahead.
It's this Gulfstream over here
that's already closed up.
So it's going to be a case
of finding out who's the handling agent
and try and get hold of the pilot.
NARRATOR: This serious breach
of airport rules
will trigger an investigation
that could result in a fine
for the operator
and the pilot losing their license.
Thanks very much, I appreciate, thank you.
NARRATOR: Back in Terminal 3,
Mustapha's got his hands full
with the flight to Perth.
It arrived late, but tight schedules mean
he must still get it boarded on time.
And there's another problem.
Four passengers have yet
to arrive at the gate.
Checking boarding passes.
NARRATOR: With ten minutes
before the gate closes
Ah, you're the one
that came from Iran, right?
NARRATOR: two of the missing
passengers turn up.
Now it's just a Dublin
and a London passenger unaccounted for.
Perth? Are you going to Perth?
NARRATOR: Mustapha's busting
a gut to board the plane,
but many things, like passengers
doing last-minute shopping
You're busy, busy shopping, yeah?
NARRATOR: are beyond his control.
MUSTAPHA: So you come from Dublin, right?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
We're missing only
the one ex-London Heathrow.
One missing ex-London Heathrow.
NARRATOR: The missing Heathrow passenger's
bags are already on the plane.
Mustapha now has a dilemma.
He can't let the flight leave
with the bags and without the passenger.
Equally, he can't off-load the bags
without being certain
the passenger isn't on board.
MUSTAPHA: Before closing a flight,
if you're missing passengers,
I have to do some checks,
check the boarding passes
to make sure that we have
no slipup whatsoever.
Anything there?
NARRATOR: With no missing boarding card,
next they need to make sure
the passenger isn't on the plane.
I have to check on board.
If he's physically not on board,
then his seat is empty.
Go on board. Give this to the purser.
If you find the passenger,
get the boarding pass.
Check the passport, the details.
You're happy, content, any advice.
This is all an extra assurance
to me and to my staff as well,
to just make sure that this passenger,
he is not even here.
NARRATOR: Staff confirm
the missing passenger is not on board.
Thanks. Thank you very much, gate closed.
That's it.
We have a certain time,
minus 15, bags off.
Decision will be taken now
to start off-loading.
NARRATOR: Missing passenger's bags
are taken off the plane.
MUSTAPHA: I wish that person
could've made it, seriously.
You know, a person who comes
to the airport, it's always--
It's an agony starting
and a pleasure ending.
NARRATOR: Despite the plane's late arrival
and the passenger no-show,
the flight leaves only seven minutes late.
MUSTAPHA: It's just to see
these big birds just going on time.
It makes my day
and it boosts me up to move on
to my next task or to my next flight.
NARRATOR: All flights are limited
by the maximum range of the plane.
Dubai is geographically favored
because it's within modern jet range
of most of the world's major cities.
Almost half of all passengers
are in transit,
but Dubai wants to give them
another reason to use this airport: gold.
It's the biggest seller
behind perfume and alcohol.
Got research from the shop floor for me?
Yeah.
We're having 14 kilos request
from Terminal 3,
and six and a half kilos
request from Terminal 1.
- SABA: And the bars are separate, right?
- The bars is about eight kilos.
NARRATOR: To keep up with demand
for both jewelry and gold bars,
Dubai Duty-Free employs
specialist gold buyers, led by Saba Tahir.
We're holding about 200-plus kilos of gold
in the shop at any given point of time.
NARRATOR: With the airport
famous for its gold sales,
Saba must ensure that Duty-Free
maintains a large gold reserve.
We have to monitor the gold prices
because the customers are well aware
of the gold prices globally.
How's the gold price?
The price is 1,768 at the moment.
Because gold price,
all over the world, it's one price.
NARRATOR: The gold price is low,
so Saba strikes while the iron is hot
and decides to buy
as much as she can on the spot.
SABA: What we're buying today
will come tomorrow.
- Yes.
- SABA: Okay, done.
24/7 I'm checking the prices. Even
in the night sometimes I'm checking it.
NARRATOR: Saba and her colleagues
leave the airport to head to the market.
SABA: This is the old gold souk,
and this is a very traditional gold souk.
We have gold souk
in the big malls also now,
but this is one of the biggest.
NARRATOR: They've ordered over the phone,
but want to check the designs are right
for their customers.
It's very critical for us
to stay on top of the trends,
because our customers are
from diversified nationalities.
NARRATOR: Gold accounts for almost
ten percent of sales made in Duty-Free.
Custom duty on gold is very small,
so that's why it's more attractive
to the foreigners
when they come and buy here.
Like, just to give you,
in last five years,
we have almost sold about 16 tons of gold.
NARRATOR: This has generated sales
of over $700 million since 2008.
And it's not a joke
to sell that amount from an airport.
NARRATOR: At the airfield,
John's dealing with a serious breach
of airport rules:
a business jet that drove
past safety barriers
and onto the closed departures runway.
John's found the plane,
but there's no sign of the crew.
JOHN: Hi, Raffy, it's John.
What time did it land?
Okay, could you ring their duty officer
and ask him to meet me outside
the front of their building?
I need to have a conversation
with the crew.
NARRATOR: John needs to establish
as quickly as possible
why there's been
a serious breach of safety.
Is the fault with the pilot
or airport systems?
JOHN: It could be pilot error,
it could be ATC error.
There's numerous things it could be.
Why did he turn right?
This is our main concern.
And also, if he saw the barrier,
why did he go straight past the barrier?
The barrier's there to safeguard him
as well as everybody else.
NARRATOR: Under normal circumstances
a pilot would not enter a closed runway.
The fact the aircraft's done
a 180 turn on his own
and actually put himself
back on the right track
indicates that he may have been aware
that he has gone in the wrong direction.
So I want to talk to the pilot,
I want to make sure there's nothing
that we've done wrong.
Did ATC say something different?
We need to get both sides of every story
so that we can do a full
and thorough investigation to it.
NARRATOR: Ten minutes later,
John has more information,
but he's still none the wiser
as to why the pilot drove
onto a closed runway.
I've just spoken to the pilot,
can't go into all the details
until we've got both sides of the story.
He's already said that
he knew the barrier was there.
He should have questioned it,
he's gone straight past it.
We'll get a written statement
off the pilot.
We'll then get ATC to review
the ground movement radar,
and they can then speak
to their controller.
It will then go
to the investigation panel,
and then they'll come up
with a conclusion.
NARRATOR:
Despite the drama of the uninvited jet,
the maintenance teams
finish work on the runway lights
just before 8:00 p.m., right on schedule.
The first aircraft should probably land
about two minutes after we vacate.
NARRATOR: The last job for John
is to tell Air Traffic Control
they can have their runway back.
JOHN: Just confirm the RCM's removed
from three zero right, please.
CONTROLLER: Confirm.
JOHN: Thank you very much indeed.
Thanks for your help today.
Tower, Ops One,
runway vacated of all vehicles,
runway three zero right, one two left
is now back to you and fully serviceable.
NARRATOR: Four hours after it was closed,
the runway reopens for departures.
So the runway's open,
and by my watch, it's eight o'clock,
so a good day for me.
NARRATOR: At the gold souk,
Saba and her team of gold specialists
are heading to a jewelry wholesaler's.
They want to check the designs
of the jewelry they've ordered
before spending millions of dollars.
- Hello, hello, how are you?
- Welcome.
Hi, guys. Hello, Mani, how are you?
What about the gold prices?
What do you think?
What is it now?
The gold price is 1,777.
- SABA: 1,777?
- Yeah, it's going up.
SABA: It's going up, yes.
24/7, the gold price,
we have to monitor it.
NARRATOR: In a matter of hours,
prices have started to rise.
Saba is pleased that she made
her order prior to arriving.
We are going to buy about 20 kilos today.
If the gold prices are down,
we do buy more.
Yes, I can push them up
to 50 kilos or 100 kilos also,
because I know the gold prices
are really low and we'll benefit from it.
NARRATOR: Ensuring that they've bought
a wide selection of gold items
to satisfy the tastes
of their varied clientele is paramount.
SABA: Dubai is known as City of Gold,
so we are just bringing that from the city
and reflecting at the airport.
It brings some customers
who are very loyal.
They don't buy anywhere else.
And people, you'll be surprised,
sometimes people buy, you know,
like one single transaction
is about $80,000,
$100,000, you know, customers.
That's how they pick up the gold from us.
NARRATOR: Saba's gold-buying trip today
hasn't exactly been small-scale either.
Today we must have spent
about five, six million on jewelry
and about eight million on the bars.
So say about, altogether, in dollars,
I would say about
five million dollars roughly.
We are quite pleased with what we have
selected, and we hope to have good sales.
NARRATOR: But while Dubai is keen
to attract as many travelers as possible,
there are limits to what
they're allowed to bring.
Customs are on the lookout
for items offensive to Islam,
such as pornography and pork products,
as well as drugs and weapons.
Customs officers have stopped a passenger
traveling from China to the Congo
after spotting a police baton
in his luggage.
AYESHA HAJI LASHKARI:
How are you? Coming from?
- MAN: China, Guangzhou.
- AYESHA: China, Guangzhou.
ANOUD MOHAMED ALHOSANY:
What is in this?
AYESHA: This one from Dubai?
MAN: No, I bought it in China.
Yeah, but not for your job, something?
You have security job or something?
No, no, no, just for my pleasure.
- Just personal use for using?
- MAN: Yeah.
ANOUD: But this one not allowed, okay?
You know, everything like that,
like handcuff,
like ring box, it's not allowed.
So I can take it later?
ANOUD: No, no, no choice for that.
This here will be destroyed, for that.
- MAN: What?
- Destroyed, because it's not allowed.
You know, this is procedure here.
You have something, it's not--
- AYESHA: Not allowed.
- Not allowed here.
NARRATOR: Bringing undeclared weapons
into the country is strictly prohibited.
If a passenger was simply in transit,
it wouldn't be a problem,
but he's planning to stay in Dubai
before flying on to the Congo.
He can't even collect it on his way out.
It will be confiscated.
- AYESHA: You need this one?
- MAN: Yes, I need it.
AYESHA: For what reason?
Okay, how can I explain?
Give me a good reason,
I'm going to give you.
- My English is not good.
- No problem.
- Okay, it's not for fighting or something.
- For save yourself.
- Not for
- AYESHA: For fun?
Just for fun, not for-- not for force.
Okay, this here will be destroyed.
No have any other choice for that.
- MAN: Okay.
- Okay.
Because you are entering Dubai also,
we can't give you this one.
Okay, no problem.
NARRATOR: Breaking his journey
in Dubai for a holiday
means his shopping trip to China
has not turned out as he planned.
He use it to show people
how to protect yourself,
but he's going to go to Dubai,
and it's not allowed.
For that, even for departure,
we can't give him also.
For that, we're going to destroy it.
It's just I practice tae kwon do.
So when you teach tae kwon do, there are
occasions when you teach self-defense
and you need these props
to defend yourself
if you are attacked in the street.
That's all.
This paper for destroy items, for items,
okay, and this your passport, okay.
MAN: Anything else?
Thank you, sir. Have a good day.
Sorry about this.
MAN: Okay, it's not a problem.
- I will cry in my room. I will.
- (officers laughing)
ANOUD: Thank you, sir.
MAN: Good-bye. Thank you.
Captioned by Pixelogic Media