Dubai ports saw 1.7 million passengers in the last week of 2018, with over 200,000 of them using the smart gate.

Major General Mohammed Al Marri, Director General of General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai, said over 600,000 passengers travelled through Dubai airports, 102,829 passengers used land ports, while 31,989 passengers came to and left Dubai by sea from December 23 to January 1, 2019.

Smart gates deployed at Dubai airports recorded 150,539 arrivals and 137,384 departures.

Al Marri noted that the highest footfall was recorded on December 28 that saw 111,219 passengers traveling through the city. The peak of over 93,000 departures were recorded on December 29.

"These numbers show that UAE has become an attractive destination for people from all over the world given its economic, touristic and social features," said Al Marri.

He noted that GDRFA used its smart services to smoothen passengers flow in one of the busiest airports in the world. Passport control officers worked hand-in-hand to provide passengers with information needed when using 122 smart gates located across terminals and smart tunnel that reduced travel procedures to just a few seconds.

Al Marri stressed that developing employee efficiency and elevating services standards maintains security and stability required at a time where the nation is witnessing constant growth and development.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Khaleej Times on Wednesday January 2nd, 2018 http://bit.ly/KT1Billion