Emirates Airlines' $4.5 billion new home opened for business last week -- and like seemingly everything in Dubai these days, it's setting records for size and swank.

The 16.1 million square ft. terminal -- the world's largest, surpassing Beijing's new 10.6-million-square-foot, Olympic-sized international hub—basically doubles the size of Dubai International Airport. The run down on the amenities: two airport hotels, shops, a spa, a health-club, a swimming pool and 14 restaurants. There are 220 check-in counters, 157 elevators, 97 escalators, 82 moving walkways, eight skytrains, five gates that handle the Airbus A380, two airport hotels, and a Starbucks by a pine tree (in the zen garden). The terminal can handle 43 million passengers a year.

For now, international flights depart to and from New York, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Toronto; local flights are heading to Doha, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jeddah, Damman and Riyadh. In the near future, more flights will be added to the Middle East and Africa and then Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Far East and Australia.

Continue reading on emirates.com

View the pictures on explorerpublishing.com

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