Fog Disruptions In Dubai And Sharjah Hit Connections

Early morning fog has once again exposed how delicate Gulf megahubs can be, because on 20 November 2025 dense low cloud around Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) forced 19 inbound flights to divert and triggered hours of knock on delays and cancellations. The disruption hit connecting passengers hardest, especially those relying on tight morning banks to reach onward flights to Europe, Asia, Africa, or the Americas. Travelers building winter itineraries through the Gulf now need to treat fog season as a structural risk, and build more conservative layovers, backup routes, and hotel plans.

The recent diversion wave and earlier heavy fog events show that Dubai Sharjah fog flight delays are a predictable winter pattern in the UAE, one that can quickly disrupt hub connections for anyone relying on early morning departures or separate tickets.

Fog Season Case Study, Dubai And Sharjah

On 20 November 2025, dense fog settled over large parts of the UAE coast and interior, cutting visibility during the night and early morning. Dubai Airports confirmed that 19 inbound flights were diverted away from Dubai International by about 09:00, while many others were held, delayed, or subject to flow restrictions as capacity on the arrival runways was reduced. [1] Local reporting described knock on delays across departure banks as aircraft and crews ended up in the wrong place, and as ground operations slowed in poor visibility.

Sharjah International reported its own share of disruption in the same weather system. Airport updates and local media cited multiple delays and cancellations at Sharjah, and warned passengers to confirm flight status before leaving home, because the combination of fog, rain, and unstable weather could extend into later in the day. [1] In practice, that meant early morning departures running late, inbound overnight services diverted to other airports, and passengers missing onward flights when connection windows evaporated.

These November events sit on top of a longer history of severe fog disruption in the UAE. During a major fog episode in October 2015, authorities recorded about 100 flights delayed across the country in a single morning, with more than 60 inbound flights to Dubai International and 17 to Sharjah International affected as visibility dropped to around 50 metres along key corridors. [2] Taken together, these cases show that a handful of dense fog hours is enough to scramble entire morning schedules at both airports.

Why Fog Hits Gulf Hubs So Hard

Fog is not random noise in the Gulf winter. A long term study of Abu Dhabi International using 36 years of METAR observations found that fog days typically range from 8 to 51 per year, averaging about 24, and that events are most common from September through March, with December and January the peak months. [3] The same study noted that fog tends to form any time between evening and late morning, increasing in frequency toward sunrise and sometimes lasting nine hours or more in mid winter.

Recent UAE meteorological summaries add more detail. The National Centre of Meteorology has highlighted October as a transitional month, with sharp weather changes, high early morning humidity, and increased fog formation as cooler sea air meets still warm desert surfaces. [3] Gulf News explains that this clash of sea breeze and radiating desert heat, combined with fine dust and high moisture content, creates thick radiation fog that can linger from roughly 0200 to after 0800, particularly along coastal corridors that include Dubai and Sharjah. [4]

For airports, this timing is especially awkward. Dubai International and Sharjah International run dense overnight and early morning schedules, with aircraft arriving from Europe, Africa, and Asia to feed tightly timed connection banks and low cost morning waves. When visibility falls, air traffic control reduces arrival rates, runway occupancy times increase, and the system quickly runs out of slack. Even a short period of low visibility can generate long queues on the ground and force inbound aircraft to divert when holding patterns become saturated or fuel margins run low.

How Gulf Hub Structure Amplifies Fog Delays

Dubai International is one of the world's busiest airports by passenger volume and, as of 2024, the busiest by international passenger traffic, handling over 92 million passengers a year and more than 8,500 weekly flights from over 100 airlines. [5] Almost half of those travellers are connecting passengers, which means the airport behaves like a global train station, with flows of people and aircraft tightly choreographed around specific banks of arrivals and departures.

In that environment, fog driven capacity cuts quickly ripple through the network. A diverted or heavily delayed inbound from Europe can strand hundreds of passengers who expected to connect onward to Asia or Africa on departures that still leave on time, because gates, airspace, and crew duty limits leave limited space to wait. When multiple aircraft divert to alternates such as Abu Dhabi, Muscat, or Ras Al Khaimah during a single fog event, the recovery phase can stretch into the afternoon as airlines reposition aircraft and crews. [1][2]

Sharjah International, though smaller, faces similar constraints as a key hub for low cost carriers and regional operators. When morning visibility falls, the airport may hold or divert aircraft that were meant to operate multiple short sectors during the day, which can trigger rolling cancellations or long delays on later flights in the rotation. [1]

Which Itineraries Are Most At Risk

The riskiest itineraries are short, early morning connections that rely on a single inbound flight to make a once per day onward service. A traveller flying overnight from Europe into Dubai on a flight scheduled to arrive around 05:00, for example, with a 75 minute connection to a morning departure to Asia, carries significant exposure during fog season. Any holding, diversion, or runway closure can stretch that arrival beyond the minimum connection time.

Separate tickets amplify the risk. Passengers who self connect in Dubai or Sharjah, for example by pairing a full service long haul ticket with a low cost regional flight on a different booking, typically have no protection if the inbound sector is delayed or diverted, and may need to buy a new ticket at same day prices if they misconnect. The same is true for cruise embarkations, safari departures, or tour starts that depend on the last leg of a multi segment journey arriving on time.

Even origin and destination travellers, those starting or ending their trips in Dubai or Sharjah, can be caught off guard. Dense fog that slows airport arrivals also reduces visibility on major highways, which means drive times from parts of Dubai, Sharjah, and the Northern Emirates can increase significantly. The result is a higher chance of late check in or missed bag drop, especially in the first foggy weeks of the season when locals are adjusting their routines. [2][4]

How To Build A Safer Connection Through Dubai Or Sharjah

The most effective step for winter itineraries through the Gulf is to avoid the first fog prone bank where possible. Instead of a pre dawn arrival with a tight onward hop, aim for connections that occur in late morning or afternoon, when the sun has usually dissipated radiation fog and arrival rates are closer to normal. For long haul to long haul connections on a single ticket, try to build at least two and a half to three hours at Dubai International or Sharjah International.

If you are travelling on separate tickets, be more conservative. Four hours or more between scheduled arrival and departure is a sensible baseline during the core fog months, especially if one flight is on a low cost carrier with limited frequencies or strict check in deadlines. Where your budget allows, choose changeable or refundable fares over basic non changeable products in winter, and enroll in loyalty programs that may give you priority access to rebooking desks or call centers during disruption.

When routing options exist, consider building in a second layer of resilience. A traveller bound for South or Southeast Asia from Europe, for instance, might route via Dubai in one direction and via another hub in the other direction, which can provide backup options if one hub experiences prolonged fog or an unrelated technical disruption. Our coverage of the China Japan travel standoff and December flight cuts shows how political disputes can remove backup routes entirely, so thinking in terms of multiple hubs is increasingly important.

What To Do If Fog Disrupts Your Trip

Before you travel, install airline and airport apps, verify that your contact details are correct, and enable notifications. The UAE's National Centre of Meteorology and local media publish red and yellow fog alerts when conditions are expected to deteriorate, and airport social feeds often post real time updates on diversions and runway conditions. [4] If an alert is issued for the night or early morning of your flight, treat it as a reason to leave extra time for the drive to the airport and to prepare for a possible delay.

If you are already en route and your inbound flight is diverted, prioritize preserving your options. Stay in the transit system if possible, because clearing immigration unexpectedly at an alternate airport may complicate rebooking and visa rules. Use the airline app, website, or call center to seek rerouting before joining a long customer service line at the airport, and keep any boarding passes and delay notifications, which may help later when claiming expenses or travel insurance.

For self connected itineraries, assume you will need to advocate for yourself. If a fog delay makes it impossible to reach your second ticket, contact the second airline as soon as you know the misconnect is likely, since some carriers may allow same day changes for a fee, even on restrictive fares, when operational disruption is obvious. Our evergreen guide to handling missed connections and separate tickets walks through these scenarios step by step and is worth reviewing before your trip.

How Fog Season May Evolve

Climate change is already altering temperature and humidity patterns in many regions, but the specifics for Gulf fog remain complex. The Abu Dhabi fog climatology study suggests that, at least over the past few decades, the number of fog days has varied widely from year to year, and that details such as aerosol loading and land sea breeze patterns play a role in whether particular months, such as November, are unusually foggy or relatively clear. [3] Meanwhile, the UAE's weather service continues to frame fog as a regular feature of the winter transition, one that motorists and airlines simply need to plan around. [3][4]

For travelers, the takeaway is straightforward. Fog season in Dubai and Sharjah is not an anomaly but a recurring pattern, concentrated in the cooler months and the early morning hours. Treat it as a background risk, just like summer thunderstorms in Europe or winter snow in North America, and adjust your connection choices, layover lengths, and alternative routes so that a few hours of low visibility do not unravel an entire long haul itinerary.

Sources

• 19 inbound flights diverted as fog causes flight disruptions at Dubai International Airport
• Flights delayed, cancelled at Dubai and Sharjah airports due to unstable weather
• UAE fog: Visibility down to 50m
• Why UAE weather brings dense morning fog and humidity as the long summer ends?
• A fog climatology at Abu Dhabi International Airport
• NCM warns of fog formation, poor visibility
• Dubai International Airport