Folks queue at a flight connection desk after a rainstorm hit Dubai, inflicting delays on the Dubai Worldwide Airport, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024.
Rula Rouhana | Reuters
The CEO of Emirates airline issued an apology letter to clients over the weekend after historic rains in the United Arab Emirates brought about record flooding and mayhem at Dubai’s airport.
A whole lot of flights have been grounded and 1000’s of consumers have been stranded in consequence.
“I would like to offer our most sincere apologies to every customer who has had their travel plans disrupted during this time,” firm chief Tim Clark wrote within the letter printed on the airline’s web site Saturday.
“We know our response has been far from perfect. We acknowledge and understand the frustration of our customers due to the congestion, lack of information, and confusion in the terminals. We acknowledge that the long queues and wait times have been unacceptable.”
Whereas the airline’s service hub at Dubai Airport remained open, “flooded roads impeded the ability of our customers, pilots, cabin crew, and airport employees to reach the airport, and also the movement of essential supplies like meals and other flight amenities,” Clark wrote.
A lady and her daughters eat as they wait for his or her flight after a rainstorm hit Dubai, inflicting delays at Dubai Worldwide Airport, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024.
Rula Rouhana | Reuters
He mentioned the airline diverted dozens of flights on Tuesday because the worst of the storm raged, and that “over the next 3 days we had to cancel nearly 400 flights and delay many more, as our hub operations remained challenged by staffing and supply shortages.”
Emirates on Wednesday issued a discover urging vacationers to not come to the airport, apart from in emergency conditions. It additionally suspended check-ins for these meant to fly out of Dubai, put an embargo on ticket gross sales and halted connecting flights from different cities to Dubai, leaving some passengers caught all over the world.
Social media lit up with indignant posts from clients who mentioned they acquired no assist from Emirates workers and have been unable to contact anybody on the firm.
“12hrs waiting on a cancelled flight and 6hrs waiting at this desk with people fainting, fighting and trying to keep sane and absolutely no communication from Emirates,” one Instagram consumer posted, together with a photograph exhibiting a packed crowd of individuals in entrance of Emirates screens on the Dubai airport. The time stamp on the picture was 7:05 a.m. Friday.
One other traveler advised CNBC by way of social media: “It took me 48 hours to get from London to Baghdad via Dubai. Five hours on tarmac in airplane [in Dubai], one hour of which there was no one to open the gates of the aircraft bridge. I made my own way out … found a hotel and went back, waited 12 hours. Got on a flight and they served us almonds!”
Some folks mentioned they have been caught on the airport for over 20 hours, and others, stranded in international cities and connecting airports, mentioned they needed to e book their very own return residence after receiving no assist from Emirates.
TOPSHOT – Vehicles are stranded on a flooded avenue in Dubai following heavy rains on April 18, 2024. Dubai’s large highways have been clogged by flooding and its main airport was in chaos because the Center East monetary centre remained gridlocked on April 18, a day after the heaviest rains on file.
Giuseppe Cacace | Afp | Getty Pictures
Clark mentioned his workers did their finest to cope with the unprecedented scenario, and that it was “all hands-on deck for thousands more employees across the organisation to get our operations back on track.”
The CEO wrote that the airline “sent over 100 employee volunteers to look after disrupted customers at Dubai Airport departures and in the transit area, prioritising medical cases, the elderly and other vulnerable travellers.” He added that over 12,000 resort rooms have been supplied for purchasers in Dubai, in addition to 250,000 meal vouchers issued.
As of Saturday, Emirates’ common flight schedules had been restored. Within the letter, Clark mentioned the airline nonetheless had greater than 30,000 items of baggage to return to clients.
“We have put together a taskforce to sort, reconcile, and deliver some 30,000 pieces of left-behind baggage to their owners,” he mentioned, including that it’ll “take us some more days to clear the backlog of rebooked passengers and bags,” and asking for purchasers’ “patience and understanding.”
Clark concluded by pledging to enhance the airline’s processes and thanking his workers for his or her work, in addition to providing “our apologies to each and every customer affected by this disruption.”
