Dubai Airport original subkha/sand runway was upgraded in 1963
Subkha/Sand was replaced with a Tarmacadam Runway
This new runway enabled BOAC's Comet Jet liner to fly into Dubai Airport
Dubai Airport Runway 1965
Image Michael Hamilton Clark
Dubai's first Airport was built in 1959 at Al Ghusais by order of the late Ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Dubai had no direct air services at that time. Imperial Airways Flying Boat Services had previously landed on Dubai Creek for an overnight stop en route to Karachi and onward to Australia.
Their passengers slept in Sharjah for security reasons!
Dubai Airport 1960
Image by The National
Freddie Bosworth was a former RAF Pilot who founded Gulf Aviation as an air-taxi service in 1950.
His airline expanded into a small commuter operation based in Bahrain and flying to Doha (in Qatar), Sharjah (UAE) and Dhahran (Saudi Arabia). Seven Avro Ansons and three de Havilland DH.86B four-engined biplanes formed the fleet, but more modern aircraft were needed. Bosworth chose the de Havilland Dove. While preparing to introduce the type into service he was killed on a demonstration flight at Croydon UK on June 9, 1951.
Freddie Bosworth regularly flew into Dubai, landing on a sand strip at Al Ghusais. Why? He flew gold bullion from Bahrain, destined for Dubai's "export" business. This gold was sent by sea to Bahrain.
Sheikh Rashid saw the potential of air travel and transport for Dubai. He wanted his own airport. British Government resisted Sheikh Rashid's request. Britain's RAF and Army were based near Sharjah Airport so suited the British Government to maintain Sharjah's hold on regional air transport.
Sheikh Rashid overcame British resistance with Freddie Bosworth's help. Dubai's first airport opened in Al Ghusais in 1959. Sheikh Rashid's first choice was Jebel Ali but that was thought to be too far away from Dubai.
50 years later, Al Maktoum International Airport opened in Jebel Ali.
Original runway was made from compacted sand.
Middle East Airlines (MEA) was the first airplane to land on the 1.8 km (1.12 miles) long runway.
MEA and Kuwait Airways flew De Havilland Herons and Doves into Dubai. Later they used four engined Viscounts.
These more powerful aircraft frequently "blew away" the runway.
Sheikh Rashid eventually ordered the runway to be reconstructed with modern materials.
Before Dubai's Airport opened, international travellers flew into Bahrain then took a local flight to Sharjah and travelled to Dubai by road.
Dubai's original Airport Terminal Building had minimal facilities. Not that many facilities were needed! Flights were infrequent and usually did not carry large numbers of passengers destined for Dubai. Passengers disembarked and walked across the tarmac to the Airport Terminal, providing a very hot welcome to Dubai in summer!
A solitary Immigration Officer processed passports from behind an old wooden desk and the Customs Officer checked very little. The process took minutes. Passengers could then visit two Duty Free Shops in the Terminal.
Prior to around 1973 alcohol was freely available in Dubai. Passengers walked out of the Terminal to a car park (with 500 spaces) to find a taxi. No air conditioned taxis in those days!
© Robert Webb
We flew into Bahrain from New Zealand on a BOAC Boeing 707. It was a long flight!
Spent a couple of days at Gray Mackenzie's Head Office in Bahrain then we were on Gulf Aviation's daily "Milk Run" Flight around the lower Gulf States.
We had no sooner taken off from Bahrain than we were landing at Dharan. Next stop was Doha followed by Abu Dhabi before the Fokker Friendship's wheels touched down on Dubai's runway.
In Dubai just four people disembarked - my wife, our two children and me! We walked across the hot tarmac towards the (original) Terminal Building. Coming to greet us was my new boss - Capt. Arthur Jarman.
He met us long before we got to the Terminal Building so we walked together to the Terminal.
On the tarmac outside the Terminal Building stood a wooden desk behind which was an Immigration Officer and a Customs Officer. Our passports were handed over, immediately stamped and handed back. Our luggage had been hand carried by a porter from the plane and handed to us when we reached the desk.
The Customs Officer gave our luggage a cursory glance then waived us through.
Within minutes of leaving the plane we were getting into Arthur's car for the drive to our new home. The drive left us wondering whether we had made the right decision!
Coming from green New Zealand and having spent four years in Bahrain, Dubai seemed = well - desolate! No trees anywhere. Nothing but sand, sand and more sand.
If someone had told me then that I would stay in Dubai for over 30 years I would have thought they were crazy. But I did - stay - that is - for over 30 years.
But then so did a lot of other people!!
— Len Chapman Brisbane 2021