‘We’ve never seen anything like this’: Dubai Airports CEO expects normal service within 24 hours after flood chaos

The
CEO
of
Dubai
Airports
said
Friday
that
he
expects
services
to
return “close
to
normality”
within
24
hours
after
the
major
transit
hub
was
hit
by
unprecedented
flooding.

The
United
Arab
Emirates
has
been

left
reeling
from
floods
caused
by
the heaviest
rainfall
ever
recorded in
the
desert
state.
Airlines,
banks,
and
transport
links
have
all
faced
major
disruptions.

“We’ve
never
seen
anything
like
this,”
Griffiths
told
CNBC’s “Capital
Connection”
Friday.

“We
hope
that
within
the
next
24
hours,
there’ll
be
a
very
significant
improvement
back
towards
the
schedule
that
we
can
say
is
very
close
to
normality,”
he
added.

The
airport
CEO
said
it
was
too
soon
to
put
a
figure
on
the
financial
impact
of
the
disruptions
caused
by
the
flooding
which
began
Tuesday.
He
confirmed,
however,
that
the
company,
which
owns
and
operates
Dubai
International
Airport,
had
approved
emergency
budgets
to
provide
food
and
water
to
stranded
passengers,
and
noted
that
all
retail
outlets
were
now
operating
normally.

“We’re
putting
all
our
efforts
operationally
at
the
moment,
so
we’re
not
even
beginning
to
count
it.
The
most
important
thing
is
that
we
get
our
customers
looked
after,”
he
said.

Dubai
International,
one
of
the
world’s
busiest
and
a
gateway
to
the
Middle
East,
has
been
mired
in
chaos
over
recent
days,
with
thousands
of
frustrated
travelers
left
stranded
in
terminals
after
flights
were
suspended.

Some
flights
resumed
Thursday,
and
Griffiths
said
the
airport
was
working
closely
with
airlines
to
clear
the
backlog
and
improve
flow
rates.
However,
he
noted
that
restrictions
remain,
particularly
on
arrivals.

Dubai
airport
said
Friday
that
from
midday
local
time
it
would
be
temporarily
limiting
the
number
of
inbound
flights
for
48
hours.

“I’m
personally
in
contact
with
all
the
management
of
the
various
airlines
that
serve
DXB
[Dubai
International
Airport],
and
we
are
trying
to
get
more
and
more
flights
by
each
hour
away,”
he
said.

“We
put
flow
restrictions
on
arrivals,
so
that
we’re
not
taking
more
aircraft
and
we
can
accommodate
every
single
stand,
and
every
single
facility
at
the
airport
is
actually
fully
operational,”
he
added.

Dubai
airport
has
urged
passengers
to
exert
caution
when
traveling,
checking
with
airlines
beforehand
to
confirm
the
status
of
their
flight
and
not
arriving
at
the
airport
too
early.

“Our
message
is
really
we’re
asking
people
not
to
go
to
the
airport
until
maximum
two
hours
before
their
flight
departure
to
give
the
airport
a
chance
to
recover,”
Griffiths
said.