However, national airline Emirates and its sister company flydubai slowly resumed processing passengers after urging passengers to stay away from the airport on Tuesday and Wednesday.
1200 flights canceled
In the past two days, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and 41 flights were diverted. Flooded highways left thousands of passengers stranded at the emirate’s airport, which is one of the busiest airports in the world. In the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, up to 260 millimeters of rain fell on Tuesday, more than usual in around two years.
“There may still be delays to arriving and departing flights,” Emirates said in a statement. The airport is still overloaded. “Our teams are working hard to restore scheduled operations as quickly as possible.” Almost 200 departures were still listed as delayed or canceled on Dubai Airport’s website on Thursday.
Torrential rains
Torrential rain had previously completely flooded the highways and the runways at the airport. On the desert emirate’s six-lane highways, cars fought their way through masses of water, which led to long traffic jams. The situation on the streets was still tense on Thursday. At least one main road was still completely blocked by the water, and many other routes were also not yet accessible again.
Image gallery: Land under: Floods in Dubai
Floods in Dubai (Photo: AFP/GIUSEPPE CACACE) Bild 1/15
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An elderly couple’s original 14-hour flight from Brisbane to Dubai was extended to 24 hours after it was initially diverted. After arriving in Dubai, the Australians were unable to get to their hotel because of flooded roads. “Our vacation is just beginning – and I would like to go home already,” said 72-year-old Julie. “When the plane landed at the deserted airfield, there was no terminal and no other planes and I thought we had been hijacked by terrorists,” she added.
Heavy rainfall during storms in recent days has caused flooding throughout the United Arab Emirates, parts of Qatar and Bahrain. In Oman, 19 people died as a result of the storms on Sunday and Monday.
