A year, or even the equivalent of two years' rainfall in less than a day: the torrential rains that hit the United Arab Emirates and Oman yesterday caused massive flooding in many Gulf countries. A DubaiWhile schools will remain closed until the end of the week, motorways like the airport runways were submergedThis caused flights to be grounded for half an hour in the early evening local time, at around 3.30pm in France, and many aircraft were diverted from landing.
Although traffic has been restored, it remains disrupted today, despite the return of the sun. Not least because departing passengers and crews have great difficulty in getting to the international airport of Dubai, the floodwaters having submerged the motorway network. Similarly, arriving passengers will have the same difficulty reaching the heart of the Emirati metropolis.
" We are working tirelessly with our emergency response teams and service partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible and support customers. Flights are being delayed and some diverted, with many airlines affected by crew displacement. Recovery will take some time" Dubai Airports posted on X (formerly Twitter), advising passengers "to check directly with their airline the status of their flight before going to the airport and to allow for significant additional travel time".
Emirates has suspended check-in for passengers departing from Dubai until midnight local time. " Please do not go to Dubai airport if your departure is scheduled for today." explains the airline, while pointing out that passengers arriving in Dubai and already in transit " will continue to be treated for their flights" . " Customers should expect departure and arrival delays and are advised to check the latest flight times on emirates.com." she stressed. As for Air France, its flight AF 662 Paris-Dubai scheduled for early afternoon today was able to take off as normal.
