Heavy rain has caused significant disruption to commercial aviation activity in the United Arab Emirates, and led to the flooding of large areas of Dubai Airport (DXB). We used our data to take a look at the airlines and flights most affected by the disruption.
Diversions
FlyDubai (FZ) experienced the highest number of in-flight diversions between April 16 – 17, 2024, with 14 inbound flights diverting to airports including Muscat (MCT), and local airports such as Abu Dhabi Al Bateen Executive Airport (AZI) and Dubai World Central International Airport (DWC).
6 Emirates flights were diverted to airports including Bahrain (BAH) and Dubai World Central International Airport (DWC).
Most common diversion destinations
Cancellations
We have tracked a total of 832 canceled flights to and from Dubai Airport (DXB) between April 16-17 so far. 461 departing flights and 378 arriving flights have been canceled so far, representing 40% of scheduled departures and 33% of scheduled arrivals respectively.
Most affected airlines
As with diversions, FlyDubai (FZ) has been most impacted in cancellations, with 403 flights canceled so far. Emirates (EK), Flynas (XY), Saudia Arabian Airlines (SV) and Indigo (6E) were also notably affected.
In this evolving situation, a NOTAM issued by the airport on April 17 at 1315UTC has announced the airport will only be open to arrivals from Emirates and FlyDubai aircraft until further notice.
A1394/24 NOTAMR A1387/24
Q) OMAE/QFAXX/IV/NBO/AE/000/999/2515N05522E005
A) OMDB B) 2404171315 C) 2404172300
E) AD AVBL ONLY FOR EMIRATES AND FLY DUBAI ARRIVALS.
Update to cancellation statistics – Thursday, April 18 – 13:00 UTC.
- 1,145 total cancellations
- 609 departing flights canceled (34% of schedule)
- 536 arriving flights canceled (30% of schedule)
Cover photo: Paul Denton, JetPhotos.
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-300x148.jpg)
