(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Even as Dubai International Airport tries to get airport schedules back on track in the wake of the Emirates flight EK521 incident on Wednesday, authorities and staff are having a tough time resuming operations, as flight diversions and cancellations continued.
An airport official said flights which were delayed or cancelled due to EK521's emergency landing and fire incident are now being fit into the current schedule, but are disrupting other flights which were originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday, in turn. Priority is being given to large carriers that accommodate over 500 passengers. A number of flights have also been diverted to DWC and Sharjah. A Press conference held on Thursday revealed that a total of 64 flights were diverted to neighbouring airports during this "recovery period", and 242 flights - 116 arrivals and 126 departures - were cancelled. However, all airport facilities are now fully operational, as officials revealed at the Press conference. Dubai airport is making extended efforts to recover flight schedules quickly, and urged passengers who are flying in the next few days to contact the airlines they're flying with, before heading to the airport. Flydubai cancelled three flights on Friday to Doha, Kuwait and Muscat, and two flights to Basra and Erbil on Saturday, as stated on its website. Qatar Airways told Khaleej Times that nine Dubai-Doha flights were cancelled on Friday, while eight Saturday flights from Dubai have been cancelled. Their flights from DWC and other parts of the UAE continue to operate. Delays and cancellations of Qatar Airways flights are expected to continue until August 8. A passenger at Dubai Internatonal Airport going to Manila said his flight, which was scheduled for 7pm, would now board at 10pm. Having arrived at the airport at 4pm, he said he was prepared for the long wait. Another passenger flying to Kuwait said his flight has been diverted to DWC, and that he had been informed accordingly by the airport staff. On Wednesday, 282 passengers and 18 crew had a miraculous escape when flight EK521, a Boeing 777-300 aircarft, made an emergency landing, the cause of which is under investigation.
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