Dubai has been in total chaos due to heavy rainfall since this Tuesday. The city of Dubai is usually known for its sunny weather. However, a deadly storm caused heavy rainfall in the Gulf states has particularly affected Dubai and Oman. With this rainfall, Dubai International Airport reported major disruptions on the 16th and 17th of April. This does not come as a surprise as Dubai is one of the main connectivity hubs for some major airlines.
Flight Aware data reported that around 300 flights to and from Dubai International Airport were cancelled. With the non-stop rainfall in Dubai since this Tuesday, the storm caused major disruption in parts of the city. In addition to the cancellations, several flights also faced major delays. Videos across social media showcase the severity of the storm at the airport as flights landed in an extremely flooded airport.
Due to the impact of adverse weather in Dubai, we have had to cancel our flights to and from Dubai on April 16 and 17. We are doing our best to get affected passangers on their way as soon as possible by re-accomodating them on flights in the next few days. We are also offering a one-time date change waiver to passangers with valid tickets on 16 and 17 April, allowing them to reschedule their flights to further dates within the validity of the tickets, says an Air India spokesperson according to Times of India.
Although the Dubai International Airport faced major cancellations and delays, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah did not face the brute of the storm, allowing passengers to travel through the airports with minor delays. According to Flight Radar, 23% of cancelled flights were from FlyDubai, 10% from Emirates and 67% from other airlines. Additionally, the reports also reveal that departure cancellations were more than the arrivals at the airport due to the storm.
