Lucknow fliers stranded at flooded Dubai airport

Lucknow: A young man from Lucknow studying in the US missed his connecting flight from Dubai early on Sunday owing to rainfall-triggered heavy waterlogging at Al Maktoum International Airport, which had a cascading effect on the departure schedules at Amausi airport.

The student was not the only one stranded because of inclement weather in Dubai. Scores of passengers from Lucknow bound for the UAE city had a harrowing experience owing to delays and diversions involving three flights on Saturday and Sunday.

“The first flight affected was Air India Express, which was scheduled for departure at 2.15pm on Saturday. It was delayed by two hours following rain and flooding alert at Al Maktoum, where only one runway was open for landing. The congestion delayed my brother’s flight from Amausi to Dubai by an hour. As a result, he missed his connecting flight to the US,” said Ankit, the young man’s brother.

According to airport officials, the second flight to Dubai was of a private airline on Saturday evening. It departed from Amausi on time, but as it reached Dubai, the pilot was asked to divert and land at Sharjah airport instead. This lead to a delay of around two hours.

“The third flight was of Fly Dubai, which departed on time at 1.35am on Sunday. As it reached Al Maktoum around 4.30am, the pilot was told to divert towards another international airport in Dubai. The diversion caused delay in landing. However, flight operations are now returning to normal,” said a Fly Dubai spokesperson.

The airline also issued an advisory through its social media account, informing passengers on Sunday morning about the inclement weather in Dubai and its impact on flights.

Arsalan Ahmad, brother of city resident Mohammad who was on a Fly Dubai flight, told TOI that the latter was stuck on board and at the airport for hours. “Later, he called me and narrated the ordeal of passengers because of the diversions. Some had panic attack while others were severly agitated over the delay,” Ahmad said.

Several passengers who were scheduled to return to Lucknow were also stranded at Al Maktoum for hours, as their flights were equally delayed. Spokesperson for Airports Authority of India Sanjay K. Narayan on Sunday said flight operations were now back to normal.


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