Transit passengers from Chennai flying via Dubai to the UK, Europe, the US, and other destinations for leisure and family visits continue to be affected the most, though flights on the Chennai-Dubai route have returned to normal schedule after disruptions due to heavy rain and flooding in the UAE.
As flights resume, transit passengers are cleared first in Chennai and in Dubai. However, the flights from Dubai to other destinations are still delayed or disrupted. Airlines have stopped booking new tickets for travel beyond Dubai from Chennai.
After heavy rain affected Dubai airport on April 16, Chennai-Dubai flights were cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday. This led to a huge backlog of passengers. Dubai is a convenient and popular hub with the largest number of onward connections to several destinations, including Eastern Europe and Africa.
In a message, Emirates Airlines said that regular flight schedules have been restored as of Saturday and that “passengers previously stranded in the airport (Dubai) transit area have been rebooked. We have put together a taskforce to sort, reconcile, and deliver some 30,000 pieces of left-behind luggage to their owners. It will take us some more days to clear the backlog of rebooked passengers and bags.”
As it is peak season, when a large number of people travel for holidays, all flights are fully booked or, in some cases, overbooked. If there are 360 seats, the airlines have sold 370 seats. This is now posing a problem.
More than 60–70 per cent of the passengers on a flight to Dubai are those who take a connecting flight from Dubai.
S Vijayaraghavan, who had to return home after his flight to Dubai was cancelled last minute on Thursday, is yet to decide when to travel to London. “I was supposed to travel to London via Dubai on Thursday but could not after the flight to Dubai was cancelled. I hear that transit passengers are still stuck in Dubai. So I will postpone the trip,” he added.
Basheer Ahmed of Chennai Metro Travels said, “There is a lot of backlog of passengers. This is being cleared after giving priority to transit passengers. Passengers returning to Chennai are also stranded in Dubai. We have told our travellers to go by the advice of airport staff.” He said that this is the time when there are a lot of bookings to the US, UK, Europe, including France and Switzerland, Turkey, Canada, and Azerbaijan.
The suspension showed the airline and its hub, Dubai International Airport, were still struggling to clear a backlog of flights after the UAE saw its heaviest rains in the 75 years records have been kept, bringing much of the country to a standstill for two days and causing significant damage.
Emirates, FlyDubai, Air Arabia, and IndiGo were affected by the chaos in Dubai.Sriharan Balan of Madura Travels said, “We are waiting and watching as to how to go about this. The UAE govt has informed us that they are handling the situation. It is better to wait if Dubai is the only destination.”
