ABU DHABI // Flights to Abu Dhabi International Airport resumed on Thursday after planes were diverted to other airports in the region because of dense fog and a “technical failure” with runway systems.
But airlines said passengers should expect some delays on Friday as the airport had only just resumed limited operations.
Etihad Airways issued an apology to all those affected by the delays.
“Etihad Airways would like to apologise to all passengers who were on board flights which had to divert to alternative airports across the GCC region on Thursday morning,” it said.
“The situation, which was beyond our control, was further compounded by the limited catering facilities at the airport. As a result we were not able to provide the level of care and service we would normally hope to deliver.
“We are doing everything to rectify this unfortunate situation and assisting passengers to minimise the inconvenience resulting from the disruption to their flights.
“Passengers are being assisted with onward connections or hotel accommodation in the case of long connections.”
Fog exacerbated flight delays earlier in the morning, with 37 flights diverted to other airports.
“The weather at Abu Dhabi is improving and the airport has started to accept traffic,” Etihad said.
“Diverted flights are returning to Abu Dhabi subject to ground servicing and the arrival of stand-by operating crews, who are being transferred by road and by air where possible.”
Of the inbound flights that were diverted, 35 returned to Abu Dhabi by the early evening and the rest were expected to arrive later.
Etihad said departures from Abu Dhabi had resumed but “normal operations at Abu Dhabi Airport will not resume for approximately 24 hours”.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company, or Adac, said there were "extreme low visibility conditions" that led to technical and operational problems.
“Extreme weather conditions, like dense fog, result in a number of operational challenges thus causing flight diversions and delays,” a spokesman from Adac said.
“Abu Dhabi Airports is working towards minimising the disruption to all travellers.”
Emily Carter, 21, a music journalist from London, said she left Sydney on Wednesday night after a holiday before being diverted to what she thought was Al Ain Airport on Thursday.
She said the flight then “waited there on the runway for five hours for the fog to clear, and because of a technical fault”, passengers were told.
Ms Carter’s flight to Heathrow airport had been scheduled for 8.30am on Thursday but was pushed back to 7.30pm, she said.
“This was the end of my holiday so it hasn’t massively affected my plans, thankfully,” she said.
“But there are plenty of passengers I’ve been chatting to who are missing their connecting flights because of this. For me, I’ll probably have to miss an extra day of work, but that’s it.”
Arif Sheikh, 47, from Germany, said he had to wait nine or 10 hours on the tarmac in Al Ain after a 12-hour flight from Shanghai.
“The people in economy were getting very restless,” he said, adding that some went to first-class seating asking for food.
“It really messed up my plans. I had some meetings set up and I wasn’t able to make any of them.”
Mark Hughes, 46, from the UK, said a flight attendant on his flight from Qatar told him that the landing lights went out at Abu Dhabi airport, causing the delays.
His flight to London had been delayed 16 hours, but other passengers had been delayed by as many as 24 hours.
Mr Hughes, an international sales director for a chemical company, said he was due to have meetings in London on Friday afternoon and would have been back in “plenty of time” had it not been for the delays.
On Thursday, six flights were diverted to Muscat, three to Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, one to Bahrain, 10 to Doha, 14 to Al Ain, two to Dammam in Saudi Arabia and one to Al Bateen Executive Airport.
Passengers on Etihad were encouraged to call the airline’s contact centre or check its website to confirm their flight status before heading to the airport.
Adac advised guests to contact their airlines for flight updates or visit the Abu Dhabi airport website, www.abudhabiairport.ae, for contact details and updates.
lcarroll@thenational.ae
