Authorities urged people to wear face masks and glasses when doing outdoor activities
world2 hours ago
The incident regarding Emirates flight EK521 at Dubai International Airport on Wednesday afternoon may have affected several flights into the country, but it has not affected traveler sentiment towards the airline.
Flight EK521, flying from Trivandrum International Airport in India, to Dubai was forced to make an emergency landing at Dubai International Airport yesterday afternoon. There were 282 passengers and 18 crew on board, who were quickly evacuated by emergency teams onsite, and provided with all possible assistance by Emirates staff.
As a result of the incident, Dubai International Airport was closed for about six hours on August 3. Emirates cancelled 27 flights yesterday, while 23 flights were diverted to alternative airports in Sharjah, Fujairah, Al Ain, Muscat, and Bahrain. In total, over 23,000 Emirates passengers were impacted by the disruption. A number of other flights were also cancelled, delayed, or diverted. The airport gradually started to resume operations yesterday evening.
The aircraft involved in the incident at the airport yesterday was a Boeing 777-300 registration A6-EMW, and powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. The Boeing aircraft was delivered to Emirates in March 2003. Both the Captain and the First Officer have over seven thousand hours of flying experience each. Emirates Airline has said that it is fully collaborating with local authorities to determine the cause of the incident.
"With incidents like these, travelers can expect operations to be affected for a few days," said Anita Nair, a travel consultant at Lulu City Travel in Dubai. "However, the airport management have done a great job in handling the incident, and their actions in helping the affected passengers has ensured that many of the flights were successfully diverted to nearby airports, and that there were as little flight cancellations as possible. Those passengers that had to have their flights cancelled were refunded their tickets, and provided with assistance on how to make alternative bookings."
"We have been receiving calls from travelers relating to flight cancellations and reschedules, but there aren't that many of them," she said. "This is because many of the passengers at the airport, on the day of the incident, were informed by the airport authorities on all the flights cancelled. They were also informed of all the options available to them, such as alternative flights that they could take."
Many of the cancellations, she said, came from IndiGo flights, due to the runway at Dubai International Airport being closed. Nair also noted that the cooperation passengers and travel agents had received from the airport authorities had been swift and effective.
Asked if the incident had affected passenger appetite to travel with the Emirates and flydubai airlines, Nair said that travelers still preferred travelling through those two airlines, and that future bookings had not been affected. She also said that travellers were very confident in the safety standards of the two airlines.
Another travel expert at Al Rostamani Travels echoed Nair's sentiments on passengers opting to continue flying with Emirates Airline in the aftermath of the incident.
"If anything, it has reinforced their commitment to flying with the airline because of how well the incident at the airport was handled yesterday," he said. "As soon as the incident occurred yesterday, we began to receive calls from passengers who has booked their flights through us. They were concerned about if their flights would be cancelled, diverted, or delayed and we were able to assist them, thanks to the proactive approach of Emirates Airline and the airport authorities. They kept us informed about the all delays in flight schedules and we were able to help all our callers."
rohma@khaleejtimes.com
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