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Adnan Al-Jaziri

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PUBLISHED BY ICN PRESS

  • Dubai Airports and GDRFA Dubai have introduced a pre-verification tool for the airport’s automated passport gates.
  • Travellers get an instant answer on eligibility through the Pocket Flights app or QR codes posted across terminals and gates.
  • The change follows a record 95.2 million passengers at DXB in 2025, with 99.5 million forecast for 2026.
  • Nothing about the gates or the enrolment rules has changed. Only the timing of the answer has.

Dubai Airports launched a new Smart Gates service on Friday, letting travellers run a Smart Gates eligibility check before they reach passport control. Dubai Airports developed the tool with the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai. The operator calls it the Smart Gates Eligibility Pre-Check. Passengers reach it through the Pocket Flights app or by scanning QR codes placed across every terminal and gate.

A traveller scans a passport and gets an answer in seconds. Those who clear it can head straight for the automated lanes. Anyone who does not can plan for a staffed counter instead. Dubai Airports said the point of the change is “making the journey through the airport more seamless for our guests.”

GDRFA runs the gates themselves. Dubai International Airport biometric gates read facial and passport data at the barrier, so there is no stamp and no officer check. Eligible groups include UAE and GCC citizens, UAE residents, and visa-on-arrival guests with biometric passports. Many travellers are enrolled the first time they pass through immigration at DXB, which means some queue at the counters without knowing they already qualify. Anyone wanting a second confirmation can use the GDRFA Dubai smart gate registration inquiry on the directorate website, entering an Emirates ID, a file number, or a passport number with nationality.

Why Dubai Airports launched new Smart Gates services

Record volume explains why DXB launched new Smart Gates service now. Dubai International handled 95.2 million passengers in 2025, up 3.1 percent year on year, the highest annual international traffic recorded at any airport. The operator forecasts 99.5 million for 2026. By the end of last year, the airport connected to 291 destinations across 110 countries, served by 108 international airlines.

DXB passport control has held up so far. In 2025, 99.35 percent of departing passengers cleared it in under ten minutes, and 98.8 percent of arriving passengers were processed within 15 minutes. Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said in February that record traffic had become part of the airport’s operating reality rather than an exception.

What the pre-check is meant to solve

Passport control is one of the parts of an airport that cannot be widened quickly. Halls are fixed, gate counts are fixed, and staffing has limits. So the operator is working on how passengers sort themselves before they arrive at the hall. A traveller who knows the answer in advance picks the right lane the first time. Across close to 100 million journeys a year, small gains of that kind carry weight.

Capacity beyond DXB

The larger answer sits at Al Maktoum International, where Dubai is building a terminal project valued at about 35 billion dollars. First-phase capacity is expected by 2032, at 150 million passengers a year. Full build-out would take the site to 260 million. Until that capacity arrives, DXB has to find room inside the space it already uses.

DXB launched a new Smart Gates service as part of that pattern. The operator has spent recent years moving checks earlier in the journey and cutting the number of decisions a passenger makes inside the terminal. DXB launched the new Smart Gates service without changing the gates, the enrolment rules, or the biometric system behind them. It changed what the traveller knows before walking up to them.

Adnan Al-Jaziri covers the Gulf economy for ICN.live, with nearly a decade of reporting on finance and economic transformation across the region.

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Apple's iPhone Duo
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The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable iPhone, and it opens like a small book into a 7.6-inch screen. Closed, you hold a 5.4-inch outer display that fits in a pocket. Both screens share the same aspect ratio, so a video or app scales cleanly as you move between them. Stand it up on a table, and it works hands-free for calls or video. Apple showed the phone on September 9 at its Surprise and Shine event in Cupertino, where new chief executive John Ternus led his first keynote. He said rival foldables often feel like two phones stuck together. The Duo tries to feel like one device that changes size when you need it.

What the screens and camera can do

Open the Duo and the inner display runs 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max. A custom nano-texture finish cuts glare and hides the crease, the seam that has annoyed foldable owners for years. Peak brightness reaches 3000 nits, so the screen stays readable outdoors. Inside, an under-display FaceTime camera keeps the view whole, with no notch breaking the screen. The rear camera leans on a 48MP Dual Fusion system with a main and an ultra-wide lens. There is no telephoto, a trade Apple made to save room in the thin body. Smart Take reads the scene and snaps the photo when everyone poses, so you can stand in the shot instead of behind it. You can also shoot 48MP photos and 4K video at up to 120 frames per second.

iPhone Duo specs that matter for daily use

The iPhone Duo specs point to a phone built for long, heavy days. Inside sits the A20 Pro chip with a vapor chamber that spreads heat during games and video edits. Apple pairs it with a dual-battery design that fits more cells into the frame. You get up to 31 hours of video on the inner screen and up to 44 hours on the outer one. Plug it in, and it reaches 50 percent in about 20 minutes. A Grade 5 titanium frame and a precision hinge give the body its strength, and Touch ID moves to the side button in place of Face ID.

iPhone Duo prices are ridiculously high

Here is the part your wallet cares about. The iPhone Duo price starts at $1,999 for 256GB in the United States, which makes it the most expensive iPhone in the lineup. In the UAE, iPhone Duo starts at AED 8,499 for the 256 GB, AED 9,349 for the 512 GB, AED 11,049 for the 1 TB, and the laptop-price level of AED 13,599 for the 2 TB. Preorders open October 16, and the iPhone Duo release date lands on October 23. Apple plans a first wave across more than 70 countries, then adds 28 more on October 30. For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts near $1,899.

Why the foldable iPhone arrives only now

Apple waited years while Samsung and others sold foldables. Now the foldable iPhone brings iOS 27 features built for two screens, like Split View and apps that respond to how you hold the phone. eSIM handles the connection, since there is no SIM tray anywhere. Apple Pencil support arrives later in 2026. That gap of a few weeks after the iPhone 18 Pro points to a slower, careful rollout for a harder build. If you have wanted a phone that turns into a small tablet without feeling clumsy, this is Apple’s answer, and you can hold one this month.

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Work from Park initiative
  • Business

The Work from Park initiative puts bookable workspaces inside Dubai’s public parks, starting with Al Barsha Pond Park. Dubai Municipality announced the programme on 19 April 2026 and said it had signed two memoranda of cooperation to deliver it. One went to Group AMANA, which builds the units, and the other to Letswork LLC, which operates them.

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises

The structure is a public-private partnership. Dubai Municipality provides the park and the mandate. Private firms handle design, construction, and daily operation. The municipality said the model gives the private sector a route into public facilities while each site keeps its role as a park.

Target users are entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and anyone doing remote work in Dubai. Content creators get dedicated production rooms, which the municipality said are meant to strengthen their place in the emirate’s creative economy.

Letswork runs the booking side. Users reserve space through the Letswork app, check in on arrival and use one membership across the company’s network of venues. The offer covers desks by the hour, event space, podcast recording and production rooms for creators. Letswork will also run training programmes and group sessions for creative talent and new businesses.

How the Work from Park initiative is built

Group AMANA delivers the first site through its DuBox unit. DuBox builds the workspace modules in a factory, then transports them to the park and assembles them on site. The municipality said this shortens the build schedule, reduces waste and lowers the environmental footprint compared with conventional construction. Units can be reconfigured later as demand shifts.

The Al Barsha Pond Park site was scheduled to open in May 2026. Letswork now lists it as a bookable venue on its platform. The listing describes modular pods with high-speed Wi-Fi, power and climate-controlled seating, plus podcast studios and creative production rooms. Members can book day passes, meeting rooms and private offices under one Letswork membership.

Dubai Municipality said the Work from Park initiative would add more sites across the emirate later in 2026. Locations and opening dates for those have yet to be confirmed.

Bader Anwahi, CEO of the Public Facilities Agency at Dubai Municipality, said the partnerships combine advanced construction methods with private sector expertise to produce public infrastructure “that is flexible, sustainable, and aligned with modern lifestyles and work patterns.”

Richard Abboud, CEO of Group AMANA, said modular construction lets the company build efficient, adaptable units at speed.

Why the Work from Park initiative fits Dubai’s planning goals

The programme sits under three policy frameworks. Dubai’s 2040 Parks and Greenery Strategy targets 95 million park visits a year by 2040. Land use falls under the Dubai Urban Plan 2040. Economic targets through 2033 come from the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Omar AlMheiri, co-founder of Letswork, said the partnership would add dedicated creative spaces and podcast studios. He described it as a step toward changing where and how people in the UAE do flexible work.

Dubai Municipality describes the Work from Park initiative as the first of its kind. Existing Dubai coworking spaces operate from office towers, hotels and retail sites. This programme moves the format onto municipal parkland, with the municipality as host and a private platform as operator.

Outdoor workspaces in Dubai face one obvious constraint: summer heat. The Letswork listing addresses this with climate-controlled seating inside the pods. Demand across a full year of operation will show whether the format holds. The second site, once announced, will be the next signal of how fast the municipality intends to scale.

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