Photo used for illustrative purpose.

Dubai Customs has stepped up readiness to ensure the smooth movement of homecoming passengers during the post-summer vacation period.

The Passenger Operations Department of Dubai Customs has made preparations to facilitate procedures and speed up the flow of arrivals through the Dubai International Airport (DXB).

It increased the number of customs inspectors working on shifts at different airport checkpoints, taking the total to 840 inspectors. There are 77 inspection scanners deployed across DXB terminals, including 58 designed to screen large bags and 19 scanners to check hand baggage.

To deal with the growing influx of arrivals during this holiday season, the department maintains around-the-clock communication between the staff on duty, terminal managers and team leaders to address any issues or obstacles that may arise during the customs inspection and clearance process.

Ibrahim Ali Al Kamali, Director of the Passenger Operations Department, said, "Dubai Customs attaches great importance to developing smart and innovative services to facilitate procedures for passengers coming into the country. Dubai Customs’ cutting-edge systems and processes support DXB’s plans to retain its leading, prestigious position as the world’s busiest airport by international passenger traffic.”

The development of smart customs systems helps accelerate the flow of travellers coming into the country, said Al Kamali. "The recently upgraded iDeclare app has been a great success in this respect, enabling Dubai arrivals to pre-declare any goods, personal effects, gifts, currencies, or cash they may have in their possession and clear their transactions before arrival to the airport, which saves them time by cutting down the customs clearance process to less than four minutes.”

The second phase of iDeclare development includes implementing the artificial intelligence feature, which enables users to identify the goods to be declared just by taking their pictures, selecting the appropriate HS Code and determining any payable customs duties. The mobile scanner will also be activated to read and store travel information directly from the boarding pass’s QR code without the need to fill it in. iDeclare app is available on Google Play and Apple store.

The app also features the Passenger Customs Guide (available also on www.dubaicustoms.gov.ae), which includes information about prohibited items and goods that need to be declared, goods exempt from customs duty and conditions for exemption, and some restricted items like medications and plants that require importation permits from relevant authorities.

WAM