Travellers passing through the UAE’s three busiest airports faced a difficult start to the day on Wednesday, 23 September, after an unusually large number of flights were cancelled or delayed in the space of a few hours. According to live notices published by Dubai International (DXB), Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International and Sharjah International Airport, more than 30 services operated by Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia, Kenya Airways, SpiceJet and other carriers were taken off the boards before 09:00. Long-haul links to Amman, London, Brisbane and Cairo were among the most prominent casualties, while a clutch of regional rotations to Kuwait, Bahrain and Doha also failed to operate. Air-traffic managers blamed a combination of low-level fog, residual thunder-storm reroutes in regional airspace and knock-on operational constraints at the three UAE hubs. Emirates scrapped the inbound EK 902 from Amman and its return leg; flydubai axed five departures, including FZ 8501 to Kuwait and FZ 8502 to Basra; and Sharjah-based Air Arabia cancelled eight point-to-point services. A further 25 flights operated under extended delays ranging from 37 minutes to more than seven hours. For corporate mobility planners the disruption underscored the importance of up-to-the-minute flight-status monitoring, especially during the seasonal transition when fog frequently blankets coastal areas. Multinational companies relying on day-return hops across the Gulf have been advised to build additional buffers into client meetings, while relocation specialists are recommending overnight stays for assignees connecting to long-haul sectors out of DXB or Zayed International. Airlines urged passengers to keep contact details updated in their bookings and to use mobile apps for real-time notifications. Emirates and Etihad reiterated that they waive re-booking fees when delays exceed three hours, but only if customers act before arriving at the airport. Travel-management companies welcomed the flexibility yet cautioned that hotel availability in the immediate vicinity of DXB and DWC remains tight whenever mass disruptions strike. With the UAE aviation market operating at near-pre-conflict capacity—DXB alone is handling about 245,000 passengers a day—even minor schedule perturbations now ripple rapidly across the network. The General Civil Aviation Authority said it is coordinating with airports to refine rapid-response rostering for ground-handling teams ahead of the high-season surge that begins in October.
Source: Khaleej Times
