Dubai: A technical glitch at Abu Dhabi International Airport forced 37 Etihad Airways flights to be diverted to other airports in the region yesterday, the airline said.
While the UAE was blanketed by dense fog, forcing diversions and delays at other airports, Etihad said the disruption of its services was due to an issue with the runway.
“All flights to Abu Dhabi this morning were diverted to other airports in the region due to a technical failure of the runway landing systems at the airport,” Etihad said in a statement.
Flights were diverted to Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, Al Ain Airport, Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Executive Airport, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. A statement from Abu Dhabi Airports Company (Adac) blamed the weather for the flight delays yesterday.
“As a result to the extreme low visibility conditions at Abu Dhabi International Airport this morning, 37 aircraft were diverted to other airports in the region due to the operational challenges posed by such weather,” Adac said.
By late evening on Thursday, 35 of the 37 diverted flights had landed at Abu Dhabi, however, some after lengthy delays.
Earlier, according to the Abu Dhabi International website, Etihad Airways flight EY421 from Manila in the Philippines was scheduled to land at 6:15am. However, it was diverted and was later re-scheduled to land at the airport at 3:15pm, nine hours behind schedule.
Some flights scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi in the morning were facing delays of almost 12 hours at mid-afternoon. “All parties at the airport are working together towards minimising the disruption to all travellers,” Adac added.
Cancellations in Dubai
At Dubai International Airport, flydubai cancelled three flights due to the fog. Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Angola’s national airline, TAAG Angola Airlines, each had at least one flight cancelled.
“The foggy weather conditions in Dubai this morning have caused delays to some of our flights. We are continuing to monitor the weather conditions in Dubai,” a flydubai spokesperson said.
Two flydubai flights were diverted, one each to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
An Emirates spokesperson stated that “heavy fog in Dubai” yesterday morning “caused the delay of several Emirates flights arriving and departing at Dubai International Airport.”
Earlier on Thursday, a Dubai Airports spokesperson said eight flights had been diverted from Dubai International Airport.
Airlines and airports did not say how the disruption may impact operations throughout the day or even over the weekend. Thursday evenings are often a busy period at UAE airports.
Ahmad Al Jallaf, assistant director general – Air Navigation Services at the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said the morning’s fog was heavier than usual, resulting in Sharjah Airport not accepting traffic.
Al Jallaf said the heavy air traffic and the high number of planes landing and taking off make the UAE more sensitive to adverse weather conditions that reduce visibility.
According to aviation analysts, weather diversions are often more of a headache than a financial issue.
Operation recovery
“Weather disruptions are a headache for all airlines, especially when at home base. However, they have to be factored into financial planning. The key is effective communication and the ability to recover normal operations as quickly as possible,” said John Strickland, director of JLS Consulting.
Will Horton, senior analyst at CAPA – Centre for Aviation, said that in the grand scheme of things, these types of disruptions are more of an annoyance.
A staff member at Dubai International Airport Terminal 1 said a Turkish aircraft was diverted to Doha, Qatar. According to him, five in-coming flights were diverted to other airports. He said there were no problems regarding departures.
A number of representatives from various establishments — holding passenger name cards and lists — who were waiting to receive arrivals said their guests had been delayed.
One man said a 7.30am scheduled arrival from Doha arrived by 11.30am. Another said he had been waiting for two hours to receive passengers.
Vinod Francis was flying to Abu Dhabi for the first time to start a new job but he had to stay in the landed flight for six hours due to bad weather. The Indian said his Etihad flight from Thiruvananthapuram was supposed to land at around 7am in Abu Dhabi.
“The flight made several rounds above the airport — to get [the] landing permit — for about 45 minutes before it was diverted to Al Ain Airport,” Francis said. After landing at 8am at Al Ain, all passengers had to stay inside the flight for around six hours till 2pm.
— With inputs from Faisal Masudi and Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporters
