Dubai travellers hit by Christmas chaos after flights delayed and cancelled
Exclusive: World’s busiest airport for international travellers suffers from severe thunderstorms
Tens of thousands of travellers hoping to fly though Dubai on their Christmas journeys face delays and missed connections after severe overnight thunderstorms.
Emirates, the main airline at the Gulf hub said: “Adverse weather in the UAE and surrounding region on 18 and 19 December has impacted Emirates operations, with some flights being cancelled, delayed and retimed.”
On Friday, 26 Emirates flights have been grounded, including departures to the Maldives, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka.
Passengers who left Gatwick, Manchester and Newcastle airports on Thursday afternoon found their flights diverted soon after midnight to Dubai’s second airport, World Central.
Their planes sat on the ground for hours before flying on to the intended destination, Dubai International, just 28 miles away.
One passenger, Dean Borrington from Sheffield, complained on X (formerly Twitter): “Absolutely appalling service from Emirates. An A380 full of passengers held on the aircraft at a second Dubai airport for hours, with virtually no clear or honest communication. Families travelling for Christmas have missed onward connections entirely. Total shambles!!!”
The airline responded: “Hi Dean, We're truly sorry to hear about it. Kindly DM the booking reference, email address and contact number for any assistance. The flights are delayed due to bad weather in Dubai.”
Many other flights were diverted to Muscat in Oman. One Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul returned to its starting point after spending five hours in the air – much of it circling above Erbil in Iraq. After refuelling the plane made another attempt and finally arrived seven hours late in Dubai.
Another traveller, named Roger, contacted Emirates on X to say: “Can you urgently update all of the people waiting at Dubai airport? Inbound flight was two hours late have been waiting in the airport all night with no food or places to stay. You have now advised that there are no flights to onward destination?”
Flights later on Friday morning are operating typically 90 minutes behind schedule, jeopardisng connections. Under air passengers’ rights rules, travellers from the UK whose schedules are shredded are entitled to be flown to their final destination as soon as possible on any airline, and to be provided with meals and hotels until they get there.
Other airlines were also affected. FlyDubai, which runs low-cost flights to and from the hub, has cancelled dozens of departures.
Virgin Atlantic’s departure from Dubai to London Heathrow departed two hours late.
Read more: Majority of Dubai passengers are starting or ending in the city rather than transferring
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