Several thousand Bangladeshi passengers remained stranded at the Dubai and Dhaka airports for the last two days as flights to and from Dubai got delayed or cancelled due to unprecedented flooding in the Middle East country.

Of the passengers, many are migrant workers. Also, there are Bangladeshi travellers who are scheduled to visit third countries via Dubai.

Air Arabia, Emirates, and Fly Dubai cancelled 10 flights on Dubai-Dhaka-Dubai route in the last two days, said Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

Air Arabia cancelled five flights, Emirates three flights, and Fly Dubai cancelled two flights, he added.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines and US-Bangla Airlines have rescheduled all their flights on this route.

While visiting the HSIA yesterday, it was seen that many passengers bound for UAE and other countries via Dubai gathered at the departure terminal of the airport.

Many passengers were seen sitting outside the departure terminal wearing ihram who were scheduled to go to Saudi Arabia via Dubai to perform umrah.

Officials of the respective airlines were seen informing the stranded passengers about the update to the flight schedule.

Kamrul Islam said the airport authorities have asked all the respective airlines to give updates to passengers through phone calls, short message service, and email about their flights.

He also said authorities had asked the respective airlines to provide food and accommodation to those passengers who had already arrived at the airport.

Kamrul Islam, general manager of public relations at US-Bangla Airlines, said they had delayed their flights on Dubai route and informed the passengers.

“We are keeping in touch with the Dubai airport authorities. As soon as we get a response from them, we will resume the flight operations,” he said.

Iqbal Hasan who came from Cumilla, said he was supposed to fly to Jeddah via Dubai on Wednesday by Emirates.

“I am yet to get information about when the flight will finally take off,” he said.

Tariqul Islam, a migrant worker, said he was supposed to fly to Dubai by Air Arabia yesterday. But he was not sure when the flight would be rescheduled.

On a typical day, 250,000 people pass through Dubai Airport, the world’s busiest airport, reports The Independent.

Dubai was drenched in a year and a half’s worth of rain in a single day on Tuesday, killing at least one person and causing major travel chaos that was continuing till the filing of this report.