OMDB 160600Z VRB07KT 7000 -RA FEW020 21/19 Q1010 RETSRA WS ALL RWY NOSIG

They ain't used to the seeing clouds or the floor being wet.

The TAF has wind gusting 60 and +TSRA later.

In Manchester we would call this July, albeit even then we probably wouldn't get to 21C.

Tbf I think it�s a bit more than a few clouds and a wet runway.

The weather here in Dubai is particularly bad today - likely the runway has flooded as often happens when it rains. As a Brit, it baffles me, but when you see the lack of infrastructure to deal with even a tiny bit of rain anywhere, I can understand.

But still weather, not geopolitics:

This should help explain the situation somewhat.


Seeing WS ALL RWY isn�t something you see in MAN and the pithy cumulonimbus clouds that generate the RETSRA are nothing compared tho the colossus super cells that the bottom end of the gulf receive at the change of the seasons.
These things are humongous and will make you realise the washing on a spin cycle is having an easier ride that you being battered about in them. The next cell group just off the coast is another beast and is blocking the airways structure. Many carriers are not flying into Iran at present and flying up and down the tightly packed airways structure up and down the gulf on days like those required continuous headings off track to avoid. Left and right up to 100nm is not uncommon at all and you end up blinding off the Iranian and Doha/Bahrain/Saudi FIR boundaries the entire way. Mix this in with around 100 aircraft all doing the same thing and chaos reigns, hence a ground stop to restore order. I would be surprised if the OP posted a photo similar to Dubai in early 2020 such as this;


D gates just to the right of the window and the entire apron flooded in 2 feet of standing water

Having had the displeasure of operating around there on days like this, the ground is a better option until it clears up a bit.

ETA - BA 109 routes via Saudi and diverted around about the time it entered UAE airspace or just prior. EK 4 and EK 6 both departed an hour either side of BA 109 and EK still route via Iran, they both held over DXB for the earlier departure, and via a multitude of different holding point for the latter departure, both for over an hour. 1:30 just about for one of them and around 70 minutes for the other. I doubt BA 109 was carrying sufficient fuel for such extended holding too, and it may well have been the case that there wasn�t a route through the weather to get to DXB from the Bahrain side.

Thanks, albeit I am fully aware of what it means.

Easyjet scrapped flights until end of October:

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...f-f67e344f0000

Iranian airspace is now closed.

[UPDATE it appears to have reopened]

It's a good thing that Iran is trying to deny the attack even taking place in the first place. That's a sign that things won't escalate for now.

There are plenty of flights using Iranian and Iraqi airspace now. BA and EK are still taking the Saudi route though.

And a week later BA are using the Iraq route again along with TK and EK.

Much chatter today about ME airspace being closed at short notice in the coming days. I gather European countries have begun telling their citizens to leave Iran immediately.

Let us hope diplomacy prevails.

Looks like BA 402/403 rotations are now cancelled until further notice. BA402 on its way to Larnaca turned around over Hungary and returned to LHR this morning,

Any news on PFO flights?

402/403 are TLV flights. Cyprus is running normally