Stray drones at Dubai airport delay flights

dubai — Flights at Dubai International Airport were temporarily grounded on Friday morning due to suspected drone activity, a spokesperson said.

The suspension lasted from 10.13 to 10.45am.

Dubai Airport, the hub for Emirates and flydubai, is the world’s busiest airport for international travellers, serving 81.4 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2018.

The issue of drones impacting commercial air traffic has taken on new urgency after reports of sightings around airports in Britain and the United States.

In January, flights from London’s Heathrow airport were halted for about an hour after a drone was sighted. Sightings also temporarily halted arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Gatwick Airport, London’s second busiest airport, was severely disrupted by drone activity in December. Passengers at Dubai took to Twitter to complain about Friday’s delay. “Stuck for ages at Dubai airport runway

unable to taxi as unauthorised drones have entered the airspace here and all takeoffs have been grounded!” Twitter user @anushwij wrote.

“Dubai Airports has worked closely with the appropriate authorities to ensure that the safety of airport operations is maintained at all times and to minimise any inconvenience to our

Dubai Airports has worked closely with the appropriate authorities to ensure that the safety of airport operations is maintained at all times.”

Dubai Airports statement

customers,” a statement said.

Emirates said some of its flights were delayed in the morning. “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers,” an Emirates spokesperson said.