Nostalgic and look at some of the historical images of the magnificent Dubai airport

Dubai Airport is ranked the fourth busiest airport in the world in terms of international passengers according to Airports Council International’s latest figures (ACI). The airport serves more than 150 airlines flying to over 220 destinations across six continents.

Here's how the Dubai Airside looked during the seventies. Today, the collective capacity of T1 (Terminal 1), T2, and T3 is 60 million passengers per annum.

This is a land side image of the Dubai airport in the 1970s.

(Pictured left: Image of the modern Terminal 1). Dubai Airport's passenger traffic in the first nine months of 2012 reached 42,565,340, up 13.4 per cent over 37,547,744 recorded during the same period in 2011

(Pictured left: Dubai Airport - 1970s) Making up most of the modern Terminal 1 complex, Concourse 1, also known as the Sheikh Rashid Terminal (SRT), was opened in 2000.

This is how the airport changed ten years later - in 1980s.

(Pictured left: Airside-1970s) The modern Concourse 1 is approximately 800 metres long and is connected to Terminal 1 check-in area by a 300-metre long underground tunnel containing travelators (people movers).

This is how Dubai Airport looked almost 40 years back! (Pictured left: Dubai Airport, 1965)

At present more than 90 airlines operate out of Terminal 1. Terminal 1 has the capacity to handle 20 million passengers annually. (Pictured left: Dubai Airport, 1971)

Inaugurated on May 1st 1998 to alleviate congestion at Terminal 1, Terminal 2 caters to scheduled, charter and special interest flights during special occasions. At present more than 50 airlines operate out of this terminal. The capacity of arriving and departing passengers is 1200 peak hours respectively. Recent expansions and refurbishment have increased the annual capacity to 5 million passengers (from 3 million).

Dubai Airport in the seventies.

This is the Air Traffic Control Tower around that time.

Dubai International comprises three terminals:

Terminal 1 serves all airlines

Terminal 2 serves scheduled, charter, and special flights (pilgrimage)

Terminal 3 is dedicated for use by Emirates Airline

(Pictured left: A scene from the 1960s)

Dubai Airports owns and manages the operation of both of Dubai’s airports – Dubai International (DXB) as well as Dubai World Central (DWC). (Left: Another picture from the 1960s)

Dubai Airports was established as a commercial entity in April 2007, following organisational restructuring of the erstwhile Dubai Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). (Pictured left: DXB-1960s)

DXB is ranked the fourth busiest airport in the world in terms of international passengers according to Airports Council International’s latest figures (ACI). The airport serves more than 150 airlines flying to over 220 destinations across six continents. (Image: DXB-1960s-Airside)

Total built up area of DI is 1,444,474 sqm
[T1+C1 (246,474sqm) + T2 (13000 sqm) + T3+C2 (1,185,000 sqm)]
(Pictured left: DXB-1970s)

Dubai International has the capacity to handle 2.5 million tonnes of cargo per year (Image: DXB-1970s)

Here's an aerial view of Dubai Airport in the 1970s.

Dubai International recorded a total of 27,909 aircraft movements in September, up 3.9 per cent compared to 26,860 in September 2011. (Image: DXB-Lounge-1970s)

Dedicated for use by Emirates Airline, Terminal 3 increased Dubai International’s total capacity by 43 million passengers per year to 60 million. (Image: Exterior shot of Terminal 3)

The Terminal 3 complex includes an associated airside facility (also known as concourse 2) and an A380 dedicated airside facility (concourse 3) that is currently under construction.