Mangaluru: In the aftermath of the Emirates aircraft crash at Dubai International airport, all small Indian flights to Dubai are affected as only one runway is operational.

A few flights have been diverted to Sharjah airport where slots are allotted in advance before landing. Accordingly, an Air India flight left Mangaluru on August 4, but received a message from Sharjah Airport authorities that the slot is cancelled, one hour after take-off.

The flight had to return to Mangaluru airport, but was diverted to Calicut Airport due to heavy rain on August 4. The flight reached Mangaluru Airport at 1:30 am on August 5. The flight left Mangaluru with 186 passengers today and returned with the same number of passengers from Dubai.

All air bus A-320 and Boeing 727 flights are affected and most passengers are stranded across the globe and are struggling to reach their destinations.

It may be recalled that 282 passengers and 18 crew members escaped after an Emirates flight skidded on a runway and burst into flames on Wednesday, August 3 at Dubai International Airport. Thirteen passengers suffered minor injuries when the plane crashed after landing.