Emirates airline president apologises to all passengers affected by storm

Sir Tim Clark speaks out after ‘one of toughest’ weeks for airline

Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said many flights were diverted. Chris Whiteoak / The National

With record rainfall causing chaos in the UAE after Tuesday’s devastating storm, Sir Tim Clark, the president of Emirates Airlines, has apologised to passengers.

Flight schedules were restored on Saturday, following days of disruption that saw cancellations and delays with much of Dubai International Airport – and the roads surrounding it – flooded.

In an open letter published on the airline’s website, Sir Tim described this week as “one of the toughest for Emirates operationally” and offered his “most sincere apologies” to every passenger affected.

He said “dozens” of flights were diverted, while nearly 400 were cancelled and “many more” delayed as operations “remained challenged by staffing and supply shortages”.

More than 100 people were sent, Sir Tim said, to look after disrupted customers at Dubai Airport departures and in the transit area.

They prioritised “medical cases, the elderly and other vulnerable travellers”.

About 12,000 hotel rooms were secured to accommodate disrupted customers, and 250,000 meal vouchers were issued.

While noting that regular flight schedules have been restored, Sir Tim said it will take “some more days to clear the backlog of rebooked passengers and bags”.

He also said the airline’s response had been “far from perfect” and acknowledged that the “long queues and wait times have been unacceptable”.

Heavy rain hits Dubai and Abu Dhabi - in pictures

To read Sir Tim’s letter in full, see below:

“To all our valued customers,

“This week has been one of the toughest for Emirates operationally, as record storms hit the United Arab Emirates.

“I would like to offer our most sincere apologies to every customer who has had their travel plans disrupted during this time.

“On Tuesday April 16, the UAE experienced its highest rainfall in 75 years. Lashing storm winds and rain disrupted activity across the cities. Our 24/7 hub in Dubai remained open, with flight movements reduced for safety, but flooded roads impeded the ability of our customers, pilots, cabin crew, and airport employees to reach the airport, and also the movement of essential supplies like meals and other flight amenities.

“We diverted dozens of flights to avoid the worst of the weather on Tuesday, and over the next three days we had to cancel nearly 400 flights and delay many more, as our hub operations remained challenged by staffing and supply shortages.

“We were clear on our two priorities: Look after our customers who have been impacted by the disruption and get our operations back on schedule.

“To free up resources and capacity to manage impacted customers as a priority, we had to suspend check-in for passengers departing Dubai, implement an embargo on ticket sales, and temporarily halt connecting passenger traffic from points across our network coming into Dubai.

“We deployed additional resources to aid our airport and contact centre teams with rebooking and put on additional flights to destinations where we identified large numbers of displaced customers.

“We sent over 100 employee volunteers to look after disrupted customers at Dubai Airport departures and in the transit area, prioritising medical cases, the elderly and other vulnerable travellers. To date, over 12,000 hotel rooms were secured to accommodate disrupted customers in Dubai, 250,000 meal vouchers have been issued, and more quantities of drinking water, blankets, and other amenities.

“Behind the scenes, it was all hands-on deck for thousands more employees across the organisation to get our operations back on track.

“As of this morning, Saturday April 20, our regular flight schedules have been restored. Passengers previously stranded in the airport transit area have been rebooked and are enroute to their destinations. We have put together a taskforce to sort, reconcile, and deliver some 30,000 pieces of left-behind baggage to their owners.

“It will take us some more days to clear the backlog of rebooked passengers and bags, and we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding.

“We know our response has been far from perfect. We acknowledge and understand the frustration of our customers due to the congestion, lack of information, and confusion in the terminals. We acknowledge that the long queues and wait times have been unacceptable.

“We take our commitment to our customers very seriously, and we have taken learnings from the last few days to make things right and improve our processes.

“I’d like to also acknowledge and thank our teams across the airline, and our many suppliers and partners for their tireless efforts around the clock this week, despite the challenging conditions, to support customers, recover our network, and bring our operating schedule back to normal.

“Finally, and once again, I want to offer, on behalf of myself, and all the teams across Emirates, our apologies to each and every customer affected by this disruption.

“We will continue to work hard to live up to your expectations, and to our Fly Better brand promise.”