Dubai – 08 February 2023: Dubai Customs’ inspection officers handled 40.7 million passenger bags in 2022, an average of 111,500 bags per day. This includes 40 million pieces of baggage screened at Dubai airports and 696,000 for tourist passengers arriving on around 300 cruise ship calls to Dubai’s cruise terminals. 

The figures were released by the Passenger Operations Department of Dubai Customs on the occasion of a morning inspection tour conducted by H.E.Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs and CEO of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation to Dubai International Airport – Terminal 1 accompanied by the senior management team. They inspected the flow of customs processes and facilities put in place for travelers convenience. 

Musabih emphasized the importance of providing optimal smoothness of passenger flows at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest airport, especially during peak travel seasons, through delivering high standard of customs services and procedures while ensuring the UAE borders are safe and secure. He praised the unique and sophisticated smart systems devised by Dubai Customs inspection staff, which helped enhance passengers’ experience and increase their level of happiness with Customs service to 97.4% last year.

The Passenger Operations completed 155,000 customs declarations over the course of 2022.  “This is a huge number of transactions that requires continuous improvement of our work systems coupled with highly trained staff to ease the movement of travelers through faster and more efficient inspections and clearances. At the same time, we are also very much focused on ensuring society protection against illegal imports and smuggling of prohibited items,” said Dubai Customs’ Director General.