Emirates Metro Station Overview
Emirates is a Red Line station in Zone 5, just north of Dubai International. It is station R12, one stop north of Airport Terminal 3 and one stop south of Centrepoint.
The station carries the Emirates airline sponsor name, but it is not at any airport terminal. Its main daily use is the bus link to Dubai Festival City Mall on the Creek edge, around 8 to 10 minutes away on the RTA feeder bus, and the short walk to the Aviation Club entertainment cluster south of the station.
First and last train from Emirates Station
These times come from the official RTA timetable. For the exact minute on the day you travel, the RTA S'hail app is the live source.
| Direction | First train | Last train |
|---|---|---|
| To Centrepoint | 5:24 AM daily | 1:03 AM (Mon to Wed, Sun) 1:02 AM (Thu, Fri) 12:59 AM (Sat) |
| To Expo 2020 | 5:06 AM (Mon to Sat) 7:36 AM (Sun) | 12:03 AM (Mon to Wed) 11:59 PM (Thu, Sat, Sun) 1:03 AM (Fri) |
| To Life Pharmacy | 5:04 AM (Mon to Sat) 7:42 AM (Sun) | 11:59 PM (Mon to Wed) 12:03 AM (Thu, Sat, Sun) 12:59 AM (Fri) |
Book a Dubai Festival City dinner cruise
Festival Bay sits next to the mall and hosts dhow and yacht dinner cruises along Dubai Creek. Pre-booking locks in the time and a window seat.
Emirates Station opening hours and facilities
Emirates station keeps the standard RTA opening hours, the same right across the network:
- Monday to Thursday: 5:00 AM to 12:00 AM
- Friday: 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM
- Saturday: 5:00 AM to 12:00 AM
- Sunday: 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Emirates has the standard Dubai Metro facilities, confirmed in the official RTA passenger guide. The station is step-free, with lifts to all levels, tactile guidance paths, and dedicated wheelchair spaces on every train. Nol card machines and a ticket counter sit inside the concourse, alongside bilingual signage and information screens. Du Wi-Fi covers the network.
Every regular train carries three cabin types: Gold Class at one end, a Women and Children cabin with pink signage, and Standard cabins. Door pictograms on the platform show where each cabin stops. The station has at least one bus connection, dedicated Metro Police, CCTV throughout, and emergency call points on every platform and train.
For Dubai Festival City Mall, take the F03 feeder bus from the bus bay outside the station. It runs every 10 to 15 minutes during the day, the trip takes about 8 to 10 minutes, and you can tap your Nol card straight on the bus. Going back, the F03 picks up at the same mall entrance on the loop.
A sponsor name on a non-terminal stop
Emirates station opened with the Red Line on 9 September 2009 and has carried the Emirates airline sponsor name since opening. The name catches first-timers out, who often assume it must serve one of the airport terminals: it does not. Emirates and Qantas, which fly out of Terminal 3, use the Airport Terminal 3 station one stop south. The current station serves the residential and commercial cluster north of the airport, with no direct walking link into any terminal building.
The Festival City bus link
The single biggest reason riders use Emirates station is the feeder bus to Dubai Festival City Mall on the Creek edge. The RTA’s F03 feeder bus runs from the bay outside the station every 10 to 15 minutes, takes about 8 to 10 minutes to the mall entrance, and accepts a Nol card tap. The mall, opened in 2007 by Al-Futtaim, was the first major retail anchor on the east side of the Creek, as covered by Gulf News, and the link via Emirates station has been the public-transport route to it ever since. For the same trip after the feeder bus stops, a taxi from outside the station runs about AED 25 to 35 off-peak.
The Aviation Club and the villages
A fifteen minute walk south through Al Garhoud, past the Emirates head office, brings you to the Aviation Club: the original Emirates Group sports and dining cluster from the 1990s, anchored by the Irish Village and Century Village restaurant streets. Both villages stay open late and most of the dining is outdoor, which makes the cluster a winter-season favourite for residents. The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, which hosts the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships each February as reported by The National, sits inside the same cluster. During the tournament fortnight, the Aviation Club is fully booked from late afternoon and a Metro arrival is usually faster than driving in.
The Aviation Club, with the Irish Village and Century Village restaurant clusters, is a fifteen minute walk south through Al Garhoud. The street is quiet and the route is signposted, but the walk is long enough that a taxi from outside the station is more comfortable in summer. Both villages stay open late and most have outdoor seating around the winter season.
Fares from Emirates Station
Fares depend on how many zones your trip crosses, not how many stations you pass. A Silver Nol card costs AED 3 within one zone, AED 5 across two zones, and AED 7.50 for three or more zones, per the RTA Nol fares page. A personal Blue Nol card pays the same as Silver. Gold Class costs double: AED 6, 10 or 15 across the same bands.
Without a Nol card, the Red ticket is a separate, higher tariff of AED 4, 6 or 8.50 by zone band, and the blank ticket costs AED 2 to buy. Children aged five and under travel free, and travel is free for People of Determination.
| Destination | Stops | Zones | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall | 13 | 2 | AED 5.00 |
| Mall of the Emirates | 17 | 3 | AED 7.50 |
| Expo 2020 | 29 | 5 | AED 7.50 |
| Airport Terminal 3 | 1 | 1 | AED 3.00 |
| Union | 6 | 1 | AED 3.00 |
Metro Stations Before and After Emirates Station
- Centrepoint (R11): The stop after Emirates on the Red Line going towards Centrepoint
- Airport Terminal 3 (R13): The stop after Emirates on the Red Line going towards Expo 2020
Get a Dubai travel eSIM
A prepaid eSIM gives you data the moment you arrive, useful for the RTA S'hail app and the F03 feeder-bus live tracker.