Several inbound and outbound flights at Dubai International Airport (DXB) on Saturday have been rerouted to a nearby airport, a DXB official told Khaleej Times.
“Dubai Airports can confirm that normal operations at Dubai International (DXB) have been affected due to the adverse weather conditions since early hours on Saturday, March 9. Consequently, 13 inbound flights have been rerouted to nearby airports,” DXB said in a statement.
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“We are actively collaborating with our service partners and airlines to minimise any inconvenience experienced by our valued guests,” the airport official added.
Emirates flights
An Emirates spokesperson also confirmed “some Emirates flights arriving at and departing from DXB have been delayed while others were diverted.”
The airline did not give specific numbers as the weather condition is fluid.
“We are monitoring the situation and will work to get our passengers to their destinations as soon as possible. Emirates apologises for any inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance and will not be compromised,” Emirates told Khaleej Times.
According to DXB Flight Status website, EK flight 903 to Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan was moved from 2.05pm to 4pm. EK031 flight to London Heathrow Airport was also delayed
The 2.40pm flight to O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg was moved to 3.15pm. EK 857 flight to Kuwait has been delayed for almost two hours while EK859S to Kuwait has been cancelled.
Flights to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Jinnah International and Indira Gandhi International are still waiting for updates.
Early morning flights were not affected and left as scheduled.
Flights by flydubai
“The adverse weather conditions in Dubai this morning have resulted in few cancellations and delays to some of our flights,” flydubai spokesperson confirmed.
“A number of inbound flights also had to be diverted. We are continuing to monitor the weather conditions in Dubai. The safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and we are doing all we can to minimise the disruption to our passengers’ travel schedules and are coordinating with all parties at the airport. We apologise for the inconvenience the adverse weather conditions may have caused our passengers,” the Dubai-based carrier added.
Etihad flights
Etihad Airways flights departing from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport are currently operating as normal.
The Abu Dhabi carrier, however, earlier advised travellers flying out of the UAE to come to the airport early to avoid delays due to expected adverse weather conditions this weekend.
Weather forecast
According to the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), rains of varying intensity will continue until Sunday but will only be concentrated over the northern and eastern areas of the country.
The unstable weather will gradually weaken and will be confined to the eastern areas by Sunday evening and into Sunday night. It will be a dry Monday but there is a chance of fog formation in the morning.