Phase one of Dubai Airports Terminal 3 opens to passengers today with flights to the Gulf Co-operation Council countries and the Americas.

Beginning with a flight to Doha, Qatar at 2.15pm today, Terminal 3 will facilitate Emirates' flights to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait, as well as to New York and Houston in the United States, Toronto in Canada, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. These form 15 per cent of the carrier's flights.

The full transition of operations to Emirates Terminal 3 will be carried out in four phases. Closely co-ordinated between Dubai Airports and Emirates, the phased opening of the terminal is aimed at bringing the facility online gradually to ensure customers' convenience.

Dubai Airports and Emirates are carrying out awareness campaigns urging customers to check from which terminal they are flying in advance.

Phase two covers flights to the rest of the Middle East and Africa with a total of 99 flights a day, or 37 per cent of Emirates' flights.

And Phase three covers flights to Europe which will take the number to 168 flights a day, or 60 per cent of the carrier flights.

In the fourth, and last, phase, flights to the Subcontinent, East Asia and Australia will be moved to the new terminal, bringing to 269 the number of daily flights by Emirates.

Terminal 3 has a shopping area of 8,000 square metres, two five and four-star hotels as well as other facilities.

Customers are advised to confirm their departure terminal by checking flight bookings and tickets or call 04 214 4444 or visit www.emirates.com.

Dubai Airports said its media campaign was being carried out in co-ordination with Emirates airline and Dubai Duty Free.