Holidaymaker to wait four days to fly home to Birmingham Airport due to Dubai floods

A disabled British holidaymaker is stuck abroad due to the Dubai floods - and says he's been told he'll have to wait FOUR DAYS to fly home.

Ian Molland, 55, was due to fly home to Birmngham Airport from Delhi via Dubai yesterday (Wednesday, April 17) after a solo travelling trip round India. But when he arrived at the airport he was informed the flight was cancelled due to the flooding in Dubai, he said.

The retired hotel inspector was told his new flight wouldn't be for another four days - but he'd be put into a 4*hotel by Emirates. But he claims he - and 180 other passengers - were checked out of the hotel after just one night, and left with no accommodation until their flight on Sunday.

Dubai has seen severe flooding after unprecedented rainfall occurred across UAE this week - the heaviest rainfall in 75 years - with some areas recording more than 25cm of rain in under 24 hours.

Ian, from Tamworth, Staffordshire,  said: "It's been absolutely amazing until now.I loved seeing the Taj Mahal, Jaipur and Jodhpur - but now I can't leave. Now it has truly been the experience of a lifetime - for the wrong reasons.I've also got health concerns and I've got to go without my important medication for five days. I've been abandoned in India."

Ian suffers with physical disabilities which limit his mobility as well as health conditions following a heart attack years prior. Ian booked £900 Emirates flights with short layovers so he wouldn't have to wait in the airport, which would cause severe discomfort due to his health conditions.

He says more than 100 passengers due to catch his flight to Birmingham at 4.15am yesterday were told it had been cancelled due to floods. They were directed to a nearby hotel where they were told they'd be staying until the next flight on April 21, he claims.

But Ian said the following morning everyone on the flight was told to check out, at the request of Emirates - and were given no alternative accommodation. He said: "I said 'there must be a mistake - I'm here till the 21st'. When I got downstairs there were 180 people all screaming and shouting. Everyone had been kicked out because the airline told the hotel to do that."

Ian has since booked himself into a studio apartment costing more than £200. He's worried about his new flight on Sunday which has a 12-14 hour layover in Dubai.

Ian said: "I can't lie around inside the airport for 13 or 14 hours. I've flown with Emirates before and it's an airline I have trusted, so I had no hesitation in booking them again. Now I feel so let down and angry - but I am trying not to become too stressed because it will affect my health problems.

"I came out here to relax and disconnect - and now it's thrown everything into the air. It's certainly put a bad ending on things." Emirates has been contacted for comment.