Fifty years ago, Dubai International Airport was nothing but desert. Today, it’s a major modern transportation hub which sits within one direct flight of 90% of the world’s population. It also still sits in a desert and faces unique problems because of that. In
Ultimate Airport Dubai, you get a fascinating look behind the scenes of this amazing airport and I highly recommend it.
Ultimate Airport Dubai is a reality television series that follows a group of employees around the Dubai International Airport (DIA) as they go about their daily jobs. These jobs include managing air traffic, managing the movement of cargo and luggage, customer handling, aircraft maintenance, and the construction of a brand new terminal. See, this airport, already the largest building on earth by floor space (360 football fields in size), is too small to meet Dubai’s ambitious plans for the future, so they are expanding it.
How much are they expanding it? Right now, the airport handles 340,000 flights a year, carrying 57 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo... making it the third busiest airport in the world. They want to add another 15 million passengers a year. To that end, they’ve hired 18,000 construction workers to build the new terminal. This new terminal will then add to the 60,000 employees who already work at the airport. Interestingly, almost every single employee you see is an ex-pat, and the reason is that over 80% of the people who live in Dubai are ex-pats.
The story is fascinating.
Let’s start with the basics. This one has everything a “reality” show should have. It has amazing imagery; this airport is meant to impress and it does, and Dubai is mysterious. Moreover, the camera work gives you fascinating perspectives you will never get any other way. The writing/editing is solid. The drama is relevant to the topic too; everything focuses on the problems the employees face on the job. This is good because it results in a real feeling that you are being let into the true challenges of running this airport and solving its unique problems, rather than chasing tangential issues like the personal problems of the employees. The pacing is excellent too and the story never slows or drags. To the contrary, the story hits you so hard and fast that it's impossible to turn your eyes away. Additionally, there is such a wealth of detail crammed into the story that you feel like you need to watch it 2-3 times just to get it all. Finally, the people they follow are interesting and likeable, which makes the show enjoyable, and it has a solid, serious narrator who knows when to stay out of the action.
In fact, the people are really interesting and quickly make you interested in them. For example, you have the construction manager who is run ragged and must navigate a series of subcontractors who are much less dedicated than he is. You wonder if he will ever pull off his Herculean task. You have the engineering crew who must tear these planes apart and reassemble them. You have the cargo manager for whom every landing is a race against the clock as he tracks missing bags, the bags of missing passengers, missing cargo and other cargo that has gone wrong in some manner. All the while, he risks costing a plane its takeoff slot.
There are more too. You have the hostess who must juggle a million passenger complaints, violent passengers, sick passengers, missing passengers, and the complexities of rebooking people who often fall between the cracks and find themselves stuck at the airport. You have the customs officer who must be on the look out for drugs and black magic. And so on.
All of that makes for an enjoyable viewing experience. But the topic is the real gem. The story of this airport is a fascinating topic. It is a hidden world you knew nothing about before you set out to watch the show and it is an amazing world... a world of high engineering, human error, rules and the bending of rules, all taking place in this hidden world wrapped in the enigma of being set in Dubai with all of its idiosyncrasies and mysteries. So much of what we think we know about the Middle East isn't true here, but so much also is. And seeing it all take place amidst such intense opulence is just fascinating. This show is enthralling and I absolutely recommend it.
The one word of caution is that it’s not easy to find. It’s on NatGeo during the days right now, but seems to come and go. If you can’t find it there, it is on Youtube: Ultimate Airport Dubai.
Thoughts?
8 comments:
I was not aware that 80+% of Dubai's population was made up of expatriates.
Anyway, I've heard good things about National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Shows like Inside Combat Rescue, Drugs, Inc., and Border Wars that provide a fascinating look at the more extreme and dangerous parts of the world.
On that note, have you ever watched the youtube channel Vice?
As an American one feels shame looking at these gorgeous airports in Dubai and Asia with dumps like all the NY airports or LAX. There was a time we could build world class infrastructure but that seems to have dies by red tape.
Kit, There is so fantastic "reality TV" programming on these channels. These shows give you a fascinating glimpse into worlds you would never otherwise see. Ultimate Airport Dubai is a great example of these shows.
Unfortunately, when you say "reality TV," people tend to think of shows like Survivor and other obnoxious shows based on losers trying to win infamy.
Nope, haven't seenVice.
Micheal, I've had the same thought. Some of our airports are nice, but they don't hold a candle to these. It's a shame. I would love to see us really swing for the fences again when it comes to architecture.
The 5 obnoxious idiots living in an apartment genre of reality TV was such an insult to the human race Clinton or Bush should've declared a state of emergency and had the executives at MTV put to death.
Thank God its dying to make way for these programs.
I haven't seen this one but I love shows like it: Modern Marvels, Build It Bigger, etc. I've got Mega Shredders playing in the background right now. I prefer straight "educational" shows to the "reality" shows - I know not all reality shows are created equal but, maybe because I've seen how the sausage is made, it always comes off as false to me.
They often just string footage together in post-production and out of that comes a story. I'm not saying there aren't conflicts or problems to solve (especially in this show), only that I can see the editors at work when they happen.
And it's funny you talk about this stuff: I was wondering recently whether or not MY job could make an interesting show, reality or scripted. Sure, there are fun characters and interpersonal issues, but lost luggage is a little more dramatic than "We're out of stock on that container!" And neither will determine the fate of the world, which happens so often on other shows. :-)
Scott, I love those shows! I enjoy the straight educational shows as well, but sometimes the reality shows are just as interesting. This is one of those shows that is just as good because they focus on the job they are doing rather than their personal lives. So you are basically getting a look into how they run the airport rather than "Here are some people who do some interesting stuff."
I doubt the Container Store would be that interesting. What makes this show interesting is the glimpse into this foreign, secret world of Dubai and the inner workings of a major airport. I'd love to see them do other shows like this about other major airports.
And, BTW, lost luggage is dramatic because of the follow-on effects as it causes everything to fall off schedule.
Kit, I'm glad that stuff is dying too. There's still a lot of it, but on the educational channels at least they have dramatically changed the formula to be more interesting.
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