Dubai Airports is back to full capacity

After grappling with the aftermath of the heaviest rainfall the UAE has seen in 75 years, Dubai Airports is now operating at full capacity — returning to its normal flight schedules.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) has been running its normal flight schedules since Monday, clocking about 1,400 flight movements a day, said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

Roads in and around the airport are also “100 per cent clear of water accumulation”.

“Our manpower, logistics and facilities are operating as usual again,” said Griffiths.

A total of 2,155 flights were cancelled and 115 were diverted due to the storm and its aftermath, Griffiths noted.

A day after the storm last week — as the extent of the damage and aftermath unfolded — Dubai Airports issued a statement saying “recovery will take some time”.

Thousands of employees across the aviation sector worked together round-theclock to restore operations and support guests at both DXB and Dubai World Central (DWC).

“To have the airport back up and running is no small feat,” Griffiths said. “We had to work closely with our airline partners and service providers to rework schedules, boost manpower and look after all those who had been disrupted.”

Thirty- one flights were diverted to DWC and by April 19, all guests at the airport were able to complete their travel plans.

Stranded passengers were also taken care of, with 75,000 food packs distributed across DXB and DWC.

Griffiths noted that certain challenges remain — including processing the baggage backlog.

“We’re working closely with our service partners but know there’s still more work to be done and once again thank guests for their patience while we work through this,” he said.

“It has been the most challenging adverse weather event we’ve had to navigate and our people and partners worked tirelessly to keep the operation running and to assist our guests."

As normal operations resume, guests should arrive at their terminal only three hours ahead of their flight departure time to avoid unnecessary congestion and facilitate smoother operations.

To have the airport back up and running is no small feat. We had to work closely with our airline partners and service providers to rework schedules, boost manpower and look after all those who had been disrupted.” Paul Griffiths CEO of Dubai Airports