Dubai: A sandstorm sweeping across the Arabian Gulf is disrupting flights in and out of the UAE, airport and airline officials said on Thursday.
“Bad weather conditions persisting across the GCC region since morning have affected normal operations at Dubai International and Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC),” a Dubai Airports spokesperson said by email.
Four inbound flights to Dubai International were diverted to neighbouring airports, the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, Dubai International received two diverted flights that have since departed to their respective destinations and eight flights were diverted to Al Maktoum International from regional airports, the spokesperson added.
Emirates, the largest operator at Dubai International, said its “operations so far today have continued, but with more time between take-offs and landings to make allowances for the low visibility conditions currently in Dubai. Some Emirates flights have been rescheduled and on average are delayed by around one hour,” according to an airline spokesperson.
Flydubai, the main operator out of Terminal 2 at Dubai International, has experienced “delays to some of [its] flights and some cancellations” due to “the adverse weather conditions in Dubai,” a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Sharjah International Airport tweeted that some arrivals and departures “might be delayed” due to the weather conditions.
However, at Abu Dhabi International flights “are proceeding as normal with no delays or diversions,” Ahmad Al Haddabi, chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi Airports said in an emailed statement. Two flights Damman and Bahrain were delayed but due to weather at those airports.
A spokesperson for Etihad Airways confirmed Thursday morning its operations were unaffected by the sandstorm.
