After the worst storm that Dubai has witnessed in 75 years, Emirates Airlines needs to return about 30,000 passenger bags Companies

On April 16, Dubai, in the United Arab EmiratesA. was injured Severe storm, the worst in 75 years, left the international airport underwater and paralyzed operations there. As a result, The UAE, The largest airline in the Middle EastFlights were delayed, cancelled, diverted – and passengers were left with thousands of bags. Now the company is trying to bring them back.

“We have formed a task force to sort and deliver approximately 30,000 pieces of luggage. It will take a few more days to complete the process and we ask our customers for patience and understanding,” Tim Clark, the company’s president, wrote in an open letter issued on Saturday (20).

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The executive described last week as “one of the most difficult weeks for Emirates Airlines operationally,” and revealed that the company had to cancel nearly 400 flights, in addition to delaying many other flights.

“Our Dubai hub has remained open 24/7, with air traffic reduced for safety reasons, but flooded roads have hindered the ability of our customers, pilots, cabin crew and airport staff to reach the site, as well as the movement of essential supplies such as meals and other amenities,” he added. on aboard of the plane.

According to Clark, to free up resources and the ability to manage affected customers, the check-in of passengers departing from Dubai has been suspended, as well as the sale of new tickets.

“We have deployed additional resources to assist our airport and call center teams with rebooking and have operated additional flights to destinations where we have identified large numbers of displaced customers. We have sent more than 100 volunteer staff to care for customers experiencing issues in the Dubai Airport departure lounge and in the transit area.” , prioritizing medical conditions, the elderly and other vulnerable travelers.

By April 20, when flight schedules were restored, Emirates had secured more than 12,000 hotel rooms to accommodate affected passengers. It also issued 250,000 meal vouchers.

“We know that our response is far from perfect. We recognize and understand our customers’ frustration with congestion, lack of information and confusion at stations. We recognize that long lines and wait times are unacceptable,” the CEO added. “We take our commitment to our customers seriously and have benefited from Lessons learned in the past few days to put things right and improve our operations Finally, and once again, I would like to express, on behalf of myself and all Emirates teams, our apologies to all customers affected by this disruption.