Flights to Dubai to be hit for 80 days due to runways' closure

New Delhi, May 2: Several flights to Dubai would be affected for 80 days from Thursday due to the closure of two runways for upgrade, with Jet Airways and Air India Express announcing shifting of most of their operations to neighbouring Sharjah and revising timings of some flights.

While Indigo and Dubai-based Emirates said they would slash some of their flights between India and the UAE city and reschedule some more, Air India said its Chennai-Dubai and Vishakhapatnam-Hyderabad-Dubai flights would be shifted to Sharjah.

In a statement earlier, Dubai Airports said all systems would undergo a comprehensive runway upgrade and repair during the 80-day period.

The work would lead to closure of the two runways alternatively - the southern runway from May 1 to May 31 and the northern runway from May 31 to July 20. The number of flights at Dubai was likely to be reduced by 26 percent during this period.

An IndiGo spokesperson said the airline would operate 37 weekly flights from six Indian cities to Dubai International airport from 56 weekly flights at present. Passengers have been asked to check the fresh timings of these services.

"With partial runway closure at Dubai airport from May 1 to July 20, flights between Dubai and Amritsar, Lucknow, Trichy, Jaipur and Pune will operate to and from Sharjah," Air India Express said.

Similarly, Jet Airways would operate some flights with a revised timing during this period to and from Sharjah. It assured its passengers that there would be no cancellation of any of its listed flights, a Jet spokesperson said.

Some of Jet's flights to and from Mangalore, Mumbai and Delhi would operate to Sharjah, though the private carrier would fly to Dubai from Mumbai (9W 538) on Sundays.

Both Jet and Air India Express have advised customers to check their websites for detailed flight timings.

A report in a Dubai daily said eight airlines, including Jet Airways have applied for slots at Al Maktoum International - Dubai's second airport - during the runway closure.

IndiGo would also curtail some of its flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Dubai temporarily, while Dubai-based Emirates Airline would also temporarily reduce flights to Delhi and Bangalore.

PTI