Adam Schreck/AP
Dubai Airport has described the situation in the busy hub as “the true definition of chaos” as the UAE struggles to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall to ever hit the desert nation.
Emirates, one of the most prominent airlines for international travel, is suspending check-in for customers in its network travelling with onward connections through Dubai until 23:59hrs [GMT] on 19 April.
The move is to support operations recovery from the recent bad weather in Dubai.
According to local reports, pilots and flight crews have been struggling to reach the airport given the water on roadways.
Travellers who arrived at the airport described hours-long waits to get their baggage, with some just giving up to head home or check into a hotel.
The UAE typically sees little rainfall in its arid desert climate.
However, a massive storm forecasters had been warning about for days blew through the country’s seven sheikhdoms.
By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimetres (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours.
An average year sees 94.7 millimetres (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport.
Other areas of the country saw even more precipitation.
The UAE’s drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed, flooding out neighbourhoods, business districts and even portions of the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road highway running through Dubai.
The state-run WAM news agency called the rain “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949″.
Dubai hosted the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks just last year.
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