Dubai International Airport runway closed for 45 days: Air India, FlyDubai, Emirates fliers affected

Fliers alert! Dubai International Airport's (DXB) runway will be closed for repair work from April 16 to May 30. So, if you have booked a ticket to or from the airport, then your flight may get affected. The passengers have been advised to keep an eye for the changes in their departure/arrival terminals as airlines will be shifting its operations to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central. DWC is about 58 kilometres from the Dubai airport.

Budget airline flydubai has already announced that it will be moving departure gates for flights to 42 destinations, including India and Nepal to the Al Maktoum International (DWC) airport for the said period. Gulf News reported that out of the 42 routes, eight will be operating from both DXB and DWC airport. These flights will be connecting Dubai to Jeddah, Kabul, Kathmandu, Alexandria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dammam, and Muscat.

Khaleej Times reported that eight Air India and Air India Express flights will operate to and from the Sharjah International Airport during the runway maintenance period. It said that Air India flights to Mumbai, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Bangalore, Goa will be affected. It said that Air India Express flights to Mangalore, Delhi and Kochi will also be shifted to the Sharjah airport.

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Emirates Airline passengers are also advised to keep a track of their flights as many of the flights will be cancelled, re-schedules or may have the aircraft changed as Emirates will not be operating from the DWC airport. As per reports, up to 48 Emirates' aircraft will be grounded for 45 days. Emirates had said that the runway closure will result in a 25 per cent reduction in its flight strength.

Khaleej Times reported that the authorities have put in place various measure to help the passengers during the period. It said that fliers will be shuttled free of cost between DXB and DWC through express bus services.