Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates is suspending check-in for all customers with onwards connections through the city, it said on Friday, three days after a record storm swept the United Arab Emirates.
Emirates, one of the world’s biggest international airlines, said the flights with onwards connections would be suspended early Saturday but customers travelling to Dubai as their final destination may check-in and travel as usual.
Thousands of passengers have been affected by flight cancellations this week, Dubai Airports Chief Executive Paul Griffiths told local radio station Dubai Eye on Friday, after the storm flooded taxiways.
Dubai Airports Chief Operating Officer Majed Al Joker said on Thursday that Dubai International Airport would resume normal operations within 24 hours and signalled a return to full capacity and regular schedule, state news agency WAM reported.
The storm, which hit neighbouring Oman on Sunday, pounded the UAE on Tuesday, with 20 reported dead in Oman and one in the UAE.
Travel chaos at Dubai airport – and I’m stuck in the middle of it
Travel chaos at Dubai airport – and I’m stuck in the middle of it
The main road that connects the UAE’s most populous emirate Dubai with Abu Dhabi remains partially closed, while an alternative route into Dubai requires vehicles to use a road that is entirely covered in floodwater where cars and buses have been abandoned.
In the UAE’s north, including in the emirate of Sharjah, people were reportedly still trapped in their homes, while others there said there had been extensive damage to businesses.
Rains are rare in the UAE and elsewhere on the Arabian Peninsula, which is typically known for its dry desert climate where summer air temperatures can soar above 50 degrees Celsius.
The UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology said on social platform X that Monday may see light rainfall by late night and forecast “a chance of light to moderate rainfall, might be heavy at times over some areas” for Tuesday, with a fall in temperatures over some coastal areas.