Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah reported 46 flight delays and cancellations on 27 September as carriers grappled with weather, technical and overseas airport closures. Khaleej Times data show the disruptions stretched from early-morning departures to late-evening arrivals and affected services operated by Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia, SpiceJet, Air India Express and Kenya Airways. Among the most severe cases: Etihad’s EY 858 from Sochi landed 18 hours late after the Russian airport shut down overnight, while Emirates scrubbed its Christchurch-Dubai EK 413 rotation entirely. From India, SpiceJet cancelled three Dubai services, and several flydubai flights from Moscow, Kazan and Almaty were delayed by up to three hours. Long-haul passengers were not spared; Emirates EK 232 from Washington and EK 225 from San Francisco both left more than 40 minutes behind schedule. Airport operators stressed that core systems remained fully functional and that baggage and immigration queues were within normal parameters. Nevertheless, mobility managers were reminded to pad itineraries with extra connection time, especially for employees heading to onward meetings in the Gulf region. Some travel-risk consultancies now recommend booking critical Monday-morning connections via Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, which experienced fewer knock-on delays during similar events earlier this summer. Analysts note that UAE carriers are running at “near-full capacity” as post-pandemic demand rebounds and that load-factors above 90 per cent leave little slack to re-accommodate disrupted passengers. Corporate travel buyers are therefore urged to lock in flexible fares and monitor airline apps closely over the next 72 hours. While Sunday’s figures represent barely one per cent of the more than 1,100 daily passenger movements at DXB alone, they underscore how operational hiccups in distant markets can ripple through the UAE’s tightly-timed aviation network.
Source: Khaleej Times
