GITEX Global transport for French teams

Why a Paris morning flight lands after dark

The UAE is 3 hours ahead of France in December, because France is on winter time (UTC+1) and the UAE stays on UTC+4 all year. Add a flight of about 7 hours from Paris, and a departure at 10:00 lands at around 20:00 Dubai time. Evening arrivals are the norm for French groups, and they land in the busiest part of the evening at DXB.

That pattern is useful. Nobody is stepping off the plane into a working day, so the transfer can be unhurried, and the hotel check-in is usually straightforward. The thing to settle early is the last meal. A team that lands at 20:00 and reaches the hotel at 21:30 has often not eaten, so decide before departure if you want a food stop on the way, a hotel kitchen that is still open, or nothing at all. Tell us and we put it on the pickup note.

Check your airline for the exact schedule on your dates. If part of the team connects through another city, send us each flight number and we meet each one.

The written briefing, in French

French delegations often ask for the plan in writing before the trip, and they usually want to forward it to colleagues who are not travelling. We handle that in the way that works for us: send us your briefing in French and we translate the pickup note. The driver is briefed in English from our side, and the translated note travels with the booking so your team can read what was agreed.

What goes on that note matters more than the language. Put the terminal and flight number, the headcount, the name of the person who will be holding the sign, the hotel and a mobile number that works on a UAE roaming plan. Add the first morning departure time if you already have it.

Pavilions, stands and the French exhibitor habit

France has a long-standing presence at GITEX, and French companies often arrive in organised groups with a shared pavilion and a shared schedule. A pavilion team may include the stand builders, the company founders and a regional manager, all landing on slightly different flights. Treat each flight as its own pickup and decide later whether to merge them.

Stand materials tend to travel as checked bags or as freight booked separately. If any of it comes with the team, count the cases and their size, because a Mercedes V-Class and a 13-seater van hold very different amounts once the seats are filled. Our exhibitor team guide has a luggage table you can copy into your own checklist.

Lunch, timing and the middle of the show day

A planner from France will usually want a proper lunch slot in the show day, and not everyone eats inside Expo City. If your team leaves the venue for lunch, you need a vehicle on hand for a round trip of a few hours, which is a different booking from a morning drop-off. Tell us if you want the vehicle to wait or to return at a set time.

For evening meetings the same logic holds. Business dinners in Dubai start later than many French teams expect, so a pickup from Expo City at 18:30 and a table at 20:00 is more usual than a table at 19:00. Our evening networking page sets out how we plan the late runs.

Where French teams stay and how far that is from the show

The usual hotel areas are Dubai Marina and JBR, Downtown and Business Bay, DIFC, and Al Barsha. In normal traffic the drive to Expo City is about 25 to 40 minutes from the Marina, JBR and the Palm, about 35 to 50 minutes from Downtown, Business Bay and DIFC, and about 30 to 40 minutes from Al Barsha. From DXB it is about 35 to 50 minutes.

Morning show traffic is heavier than the midday figure, so for the first day we plan a departure time that sits earlier than the arithmetic suggests. If you want a hotel shuttle that runs on a loop, our hotel shuttle guide explains how that works, and the airport to Expo City page covers going straight from the terminal to the venue.

If your team also goes to the Grand Prix

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit is 3 to 6 December 2026, the weekend before GITEX opens. French motorsport fans who plan to see both can fly in earlier and use the first weekend for Yas, then move to the show hotel. It is worth checking the official schedule for the race days. We do not sell tickets.

The drive from Dubai Marina to Yas is about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 in normal traffic and longer on race days. Our F1 then GITEX page walks through the back-to-back week, and the Dubai to Yas guide covers the race-day run.

Entry rules, money and what we quote

Entry rules change and we do not give visa advice. Check with your airline or the official UAE immigration sites (ICP and GDRFA) before you travel.

We quote in dirhams. Your written quote shows the vehicle, the hours or route, fuel and driver, and any Salik gate charges on the way, so nothing in the line items surprises the finance team back in Paris. Our price page shows the starting figures. A Mercedes Sprinter day, for example, starts from AED 2,450 for a full day with driver and fuel.

Send the details for a fixed quote

Send us the arrival flights, the headcount per flight, the hotel, the show days and the number of cases. Ask for a fixed written quote on the booking page and we reply with the plan in dirhams, in UAE local time.

Related: GITEX Global transport · GITEX exhibitor teams · GITEX airport transfer · Grand Prix then GITEX · Get a quote

Keep reading

• GITEX Global transport: Airport, hotel and Expo City transport for GITEX Global week.
• GITEX airport transfer: DXB and Al Maktoum pickups for GITEX arrivals.
• GITEX from India: Airport pickups, booth-case luggage and Expo City runs for teams flying in from India.
• GITEX from the USA: A pre-flight checklist for US teams: jet lag, time zones, long-haul arrivals and show-day transport.
• GITEX exhibitor teams: Early starts, stand build days and late finishes for exhibitor teams.
• GITEX from South Korea: Punctual, planned transport for Korean delegations and exhibitor teams.