I plan to fly from Bangalore (India) to Dubai and then to San Francisco, all on the Emirates Airline. I have an option of a 1.5 hour layover in Dubai.
I'm wondering if this is sufficient time to make my connection. Are transiting passengers required to clear customs/security in Dubai ? Any information on potential causes of delay is appreciated.
It's fine. The minimum connecting time for Emirates-Emirates flights is 75 minutes — sorry, can't find an authoritative source for this, but if you booked your flights through Emirates, they'll only offer legal connections anyway.
If your incoming flight is on time, you'll make it. If it's delayed and you miss the connection, Emirates will put you on another flight.
jpatokal answer is correct. But I'll add that you will need to go through a security screening in Dubai (not immigration) and your luggage should be checked through.
In my experience it is certainly feasible to get from gate to gate in about 45 minutes. I also noticed staff standing outside the security screening trying to flag down passengers for flights that were leaving very soon. Presumably to help them get through quickly.
Another concern here is, if the inbound flight is delayed, how long until the next flight out to your destination? If that route is only flown once a day, you may want to consider if it is worth the risk.
In your case, this route is only flown once a day.
I traveled this route twice (Hyd-Dubai-US) with emirates. Even they give 1 hr 30 lay over when you book the ticket, but they will change it to three hours layover. You should get a notification email from emirates before you travel. This happened to me twice. And yes 1.5 hours is enough is ideal conditions but not always.
