Emirates warns of delays at Dubai airport as rain and low visibility persist

Rain and poor visibility expected to disrupt travel across the UAE this week

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2 MIN READ
Emirates
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Dubai: Passengers flying out of Dubai this week are being urged to allow extra time to reach the airport, with Emirates warning of possible delays due to ongoing unstable weather conditions.

The airline has advised customers travelling between March 23 and 27 to plan ahead, citing reduced visibility and challenging driving conditions caused by rain and strong winds.

Travellers have been told to arrive at least two hours before departure and to monitor updates closely before heading to the airport.

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Weather disrupts road and travel conditions

Rainfall and low visibility have already affected parts of the UAE, including Abu Dhabi and surrounding areas, with conditions expected to continue through the week.

According to the National Centre of Meteorology, the current weather pattern is driven by unstable atmospheric activity, bringing scattered rainfall, strong winds and reduced visibility across multiple regions.

Authorities have warned residents to remain cautious on the roads and to rely only on official updates, amid the risk of rapidly changing conditions.

Flights and schedules under watch

Emirates has asked passengers to check their flight status in advance and review updates through its website, while also ensuring their contact details are up to date to receive notifications on delays or changes.

The advisory comes as weather conditions may affect airport access more than flight operations, with road congestion and slower travel times expected around Dubai International Airport.

Rain to continue through the week

Forecasts indicate that rainfall will persist across several parts of the UAE, with conditions shifting between northern, eastern and coastal regions over the coming days.

Some areas may see heavier downpours accompanied by thunder, strong winds and possible hail, increasing the risk of water accumulation in low-lying areas.

Conditions are expected to ease gradually toward the end of the week, though intermittent showers may continue depending on cloud activity.

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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