The Lebanese airline logo Middle East Airlines on one of its planes at Beirut Airport. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Middle East Airlines (MEA) announced on Tuesday evening that it had cancelled flights to Dubai due to dangerous weather conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Torrential downpours and thunderstorms caused the suspension of operations at Dubai International Airport.
"Due to the bad weather that has caused the suspension of operations at Dubai International Airport, MEA has cancelled its flights ME428/429 and ME430/431 to Dubai," the Lebanese airline announced in a statement.
MEA will operate two flights (ME1428 and ME1426) on Wednesday at 8 a.m. to carry passengers from flight ME428 which was cancelled this afternoon, it added, noting that "passengers from flight ME430 cancelled this evening will be carried on board flight ME430 on Wednesday at 9 p.m."
Concerning flights ME429 and ME431 to Beirut, passengers will be boarded onto flight ME427 scheduled for April 17 at 12.45 p.m.
Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest transport hubs, diverted all inbound flights on Tuesday due to torrential rains and extensive flooding. The storms also affected two other Gulf countries, Bahrain and Oman, where 18 people died.
Dubai Airport, where more than 100 flights were expected on Tuesday evening, initially suspended operations for 25 minutes in the wake of chaos caused by the storm. This kind of weather is a rare phenomenon in the desert country.