Indian airlines cancel, reschedule Dubai flights due to restrictions

Indian airlines' flight operations to Dubai have been impacted, with Air India, Air India Express and SpiceJet either cancelling or rescheduling their services due to restrictions at the busy airport in the Emirates. There is substantial air traffic between India and the UAE, especially Dubai, which is also one of the world's busiest airports.

While Air India on Friday cancelled all its flights to and from Dubai, citing "continued operational disruptions at the airport", Air India Express and IndiGo have cancelled some of their services.

Sources in the know said that Dubai airport has issued a NOTAM (Notice To Airmen), restricting operations of flights by non-UAE operators till April 21 morning.

Non-UAE operators having more than two flights in 24 hours have been asked to cut the operations by 50 per cent during the given time period.

Following the NOTAM, the flight operations of the Indian carriers have been disrupted, and they are cancelling and rescheduling their services. The move will also result in increased operational expenses for the airlines, sources said.

On Friday, an Air India Express flight from Calicut to Dubai was diverted to Muscat due to the restrictions. The aircraft flew back to Calicut, and later, the passengers were taken on the flight to Ras Al Khaimah, they added.

Generally, NOTAM is a notice containing information that is essential for personnel involved in flight operations.

An Air India spokesperson said the airline has cancelled the flights to and from Dubai on Friday due to continued operational disruptions at the Dubai airport.

"We are doing our best to get affected customers on their way by re-accommodating them on flights as soon as operations resume," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Currently, Air India operates 72 flights a week to Dubai from five Indian cities, of which 32 flights are from Delhi. Air India Express operates 84 weekly flights to Dubai.

An Air India official said operations to Dubai will partially resume on Saturday.

"Due to airport restrictions in Dubai caused by rain-induced flooding, some flights from Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune will now operate to and from Fujairah," SpiceJet said in a post on X.

The airline did not mention any flight cancellations.

Air India Express said it has adjusted flight operations to and from Dubai to continue with the maximum permissible reduced capacity of 50 per cent of its schedule.

This has been done in adherence to the instructions issued by Dubai Airport Authority, an airline spokesperson said and added that it is closely monitoring developments.

The airline eagerly awaits the necessary permissions to return to its scheduled operations of 84 weekly flights connecting Dubai and various cities in India. The airline has extended the option of complimentary rescheduling or a full refund to impacted guests, the spokesperson said.

In his message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said it has been a very busy week, right across the company, and for many different reasons.

"It started last weekend with the disruption to our Tel Aviv flights and, thereafter, to some of our US schedules arising from closure and/or avoidance of certain airspace and enroute overflight windows. Then, just a few days later, we had the unprecedented rains in Dubai causing significant disruption to schedules, passengers and crew," he said.

The airline group operates dozens of services between India and North America, and nearly 250 flights per week between India and the UAE.

"I would therefore like to acknowledge the tremendous effort by our crews and ground staff at Tel Aviv to bring AI-140 safety back to Delhi, our teams serving on, or handling, the many other affected US and DXB flights, as well as everyone at the various supporting HQ departments," he said.

An official in the know said IndiGo on Friday cancelled some of its Dubai flights.

There was no comment from Vistara.

The Indian embassy in the UAE on Friday advised the inbound Indian passengers travelling to or transiting through Dubai International Airport to reschedule non-essential travel till operations normalise.

Due to disruption caused by unprecedented weather conditions in the UAE earlier this week, Dubai International Airport has temporarily limited the number of inbound flights, it said in an advisory.

Unprecedented heavy rains lashed Dubai on Tuesday, disrupting normal lives and flooding the Dubai International Airport.

The Dubai airport was ranked as the world's second busiest airport in 2023, handling more than 8.69 crore passengers, according to Airports Council International (ACI).