Arrival in Dubai from Calcutta: April 17, 2.10pm (local time).

Departure from Dubai for Jeddah: April 19, 4.10pm (local time).

Thirty-four passengers from Calcutta, travelling in a group to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for Umrah, alleged that they were stranded in Dubai for 50 hours, where they were supposed to be in transit for only a few hours.

Tuesday’s rain and flooding in the UAE disrupted flight operations at the Dubai airport, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Metro reported on Friday that a doctor from Manchester, UK, was stranded for 29 hours at the Dubai airport before being able to reach Calcutta.

Emirates runs two flights between Dubai and Calcutta daily. On Friday, both flights operated, officials at the airport said.

The morning flight landed at the Calcutta airport at 9.05am and the evening flight at 7.37pm.

The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi on Friday issued a travel advisory for Indians booked on flights to take off from Dubai International Airport, asking them to travel to the airport only after “final confirmation” from the respective airlines regarding the departure date and time.

“Due to disruption caused by unprecedented weather conditions in the UAE earlier this week, Dubai International Airport has temporarily limited the number of inbound flights. While the UAE authorities are working round the clock to ensure normalisation of operations, the situation is unprecedented,” the advisory says.

“The Airport Authorities have advised that passengers may travel to the Airport ONLY AFTER final confirmation from the respective airlines regarding the departure date and time of the respective flights,” it says.

“In light of the above advisory, inbound Indian passengers travelling to or transiting through Dubai International Airport are advised to reschedule non-essential travel till operations normalise.”

As the airlines are struggling to resume normality, the group of 34 passengers from the Metiaburuz and Garden Reach areas could finally board a plane to Jeddah after being stuck in Dubai for 50 hours.

They had arrived in Dubai from Calcutta on an Emirates flight around 2.10pm on April 17 (local time).

“We had been stranded at the airport till 4am on Friday. There was utter chaos. To get any information, we had to stand in long queues,” said Saiyed Mohammad Ali Mollah, proprietor of Humsafar Travels in Calcutta, who is taking the group to Jeddah for Umrah.

He said the group hurried to several boarding gates on April 17 and 18 after being informed that the flight would depart. But it did not.

“Like thousands of others, we stayed in the terminal building till late on April 18. Finally, an airline employee asked us to go to their counter in the arrival area, where arrangements would be made for our hotel accommodation,” Mollah said over the phone from Dubai on Friday.

At the counter, they were issued coupons for hotel accommodation and food.

“However, there was a long queue of passengers for hotel transfer. We stood there from 4am and finally got our hotel rooms at 7am,” he said. “Those who were elderly and travelling with children were given priority, which was good.”

Soon after reaching the hotel they received information from Emirates that their flight to Jeddah would take off in the afternoon.

“We rushed back to the airport. After a wait stretching many hours, we could finally board the flight,” Mollah said.