British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Dubai on Saturday in a mission to help British business and support Dubai's bid to host the World Expo in 2020.

Cameron stopped off in the Gulf emirate on his way back from the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.

In his tweet, Cameron said he came to Dubai to support British businesses and Dubai's bid to hold the Expo 2020.

Cameron toured the exhibition halls ahead of the opening of the 13th Dubai Airshow, the biggest biennial airshow in the Middle East, which will start on Sunday.

Sources said the prime minister is backing British defense firm BAE System's campaign to sell its the military aircraft Eurofighter Typhoon system to the United Arab Emirates in a multi- billion dollar deal.

Cameron also paid a visit of the Red Arrows of the Royal Air Force, the aerobatics flight display team of the air force in Britain. Cameron tweeted a picture of his meeting with the pilots through his twitter account.

Earlier in May this year, Britain threw its diplomatic weight behind Dubai's bid to hold the World Expo in 2020.

Dubai is competing with Izmir in Turkey, Yeketarinburg, Russia and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 167 member states of the Bureau of International Exhibitions will vote on November 27 to decide which city will host the Expo.