Tourists stranded in Dubai’s major airports say they are “desperate for food” and are running low on water as floods cause disruption and chaos in one of the world’s busiest transport hubs.
Passengers who have spoken to sources say they have been waiting for hours at Dubai’s two major international airports, with little information or support provided to them.
About 290 flights to and from Dubai International Airport on Wednesday have been cancelled, according to Flight Aware data at 21:00 GMT (22:00 BST).
There have been another 440 delayed flights, the data showed.
It comes after record rainfall caused floods in Gulf states, leading to the deaths of 20 people.
James and Elizabeth Devine, from Cambridge, have been stuck at the wrong connecting airport in Dubai with their six-month-old son after their flight back home from a wedding in Sydney was diverted.
It landed at Dubai World Central Airport, more than 80km (40 miles) away from their intended destination, Dubai International Airport.
Mr. Devine, a 30-year-old software engineer, and Mrs. Devine, a 29-year-old primary school teacher, are part of a party of nine from the UK. They’ve been “living on duty free” and say water is in short supply.
“The restaurants are closed,” Mr. Devine said. “The only food we have is from duty free so it’s like they haven’t provided any food for infants or young children, there’s no nappies, so we’re like handing off nappies to people.”
The weather conditions have forced Dubai International Airport—the world’s second busiest—to divert dozens of inbound planes and cancel a number of flights.
“We are currently experiencing significant disruption due to the weather and are continuously working with our emergency response teams and service partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible,” it said on X, formerly Twitter.
Emirates, a major international airline headquartered in Dubai, has suspended check-in for passengers departing from Dubai until Thursday, due to “operational challenges” caused by the bad weather.
Despite the chaos, the couple said passengers have kept arriving at the airport.
“We are all stuck in this poorly resourced airport,” Mr. Devine said, “There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people here.”
“They had to open duty free so we could eat some food but it’s running out.”
