DUBAI: A major sandstorm across the United Arab Emirates disrupted flights at Dubai’s two international airports on Thur­sday and caused delays at other air transport centres in the Gulf, according to authorities.

The thick orange haze that had blanketed Saudi Arabia on Wednesday moved eastwards and seve­rely reduced visibility, threatening to continue delays and cancellations for the rest of the day, the Dubai Airports live flight status website showed.

Dubai International was the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic in 2014, replacing London’s Heathrow for the first time, as 70.5 million passengers travelled thro­ugh the airport.

“Bad weather conditions persisting across the Gulf region since morning have affected normal operations at Dubai International and Al Maktoum International,” Dubai Airports, which operates both facilities, said in a statement. In a later emailed statement, Dubai Airports said it had re-routed some flights during the day to Al Maktoum, Dubai’s second airport that mainly handles cargo, and was working with all airlines to minimise disruption.

Flights into the international airport in neighbouring Abu Dhabi from Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Ras Al Khaimah and Mumbai during the morning were either delayed or cancelled, according to the flight status page on the airport’s website.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2015

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