Dubai: Heaviest rains on record cost Emirates ‘a lot’, says airline chief

The unprecedented rains recorded in UAE last month cost the Emirates airline “a lot” and the airline was also “hit hard” on baggage handling operations, said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group.

“It (rains) cost us a lot at the end of the day. To see 200 millimetres of rain was really tough. We were used to disturbances across the globe in the US, Europe, and Australia and we managed it because it was in a different hub area. When it is your hub area, here in Dubai, to see aircraft coming back and not leaving with limited gates and parking (was a challenge) because aircraft usually come in and go. So we have had much less gates and parking,” he said during a media briefing on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market.

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The UAE recorded the highest rains in 75 years, resulting in disrupting of flight operations and the cancellation of over 2,000 flights due to the flooding of Dubai International Airport.

A record-breaking rainstorm in April was by far the “most disruptive weather event” in the 63-year history of Dubai International (DXB) airport with 2,155 flights cancelled, making it the highest number of cancellations yet, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told Khaleej Times in an earlier interview.

Baggage issue

Sheikh Ahmed said that delivering baggage to passengers in the wake of the record rains was a challenge for the airline.

“We have been hit hard on baggage, trying to push baggage with the passengers to the destinations they were flying to. It was really tough. It was not tough to identify those bags and send them to their destinations, but other airports were pushing us not to send more baggage, even though we were sending them to the people. It was beyond our control,” Emirates Airline chairman said.