As is well known, it doesn't rain very often in the desert, but when it does, it rains heavily. This is exactly what caused problems for Dubai Airport (DXB), as heavy rains resulted in large parts of the terminal being flooded. It was also extremely wet on the apron.

The United Arab Emirates is more likely to be associated with deserts and high temperatures than with torrential rain. Just because there is a lot of sand in this state and it rarely rains doesn't mean it never rains. A storm occurred this week. The combination of strong gusts of wind and an exceptionally high amount of rainfall resulted in significant parts of the terminal at Dubai International Airport being literally “flooded”.

The flooding of the infrastructure also had consequences for flight operations. The airport advised passengers not to show up at all because many flights were canceled or could not be operated at all due to the inrush of water. Emirates Airline then announced that it would completely stop checking in new passengers and expect significant delays and cancellations throughout the day. Whenever possible, attempts were made to connect those transferring, but this was not successful in all cases.

According to Dubai International Airport, with the help of local service providers and airlines, it has ensured that passengers can receive the best possible care and that flight operations are stable again as quickly as possible. However, the storm has been going on since Tuesday and operations had to be stopped completely for safety reasons due to the weather situation. The storm also left its mark on land routes, as some roads had to be closed due to flooding, meaning that access to the airport was only possible to a very limited extent for both passengers and employees.

However, not only Emirates Airline was affected by the weather-related problems at Dubai International Airport, but also all other carriers that use this airport. The approach was extremely different. Some providers have canceled incoming flights or diverted them to other airports and others have delayed take-off as long as possible and awaited further developments.

According to local media reports, this is the worst flooding to have occurred in the emirate of Dubai since 1999. It is currently not possible to predict the extent of property damage and how long any urgently necessary repairs will take.