Emirates flight from Cairo aborts takeoff

An Emirates airline flight from Cairo to Dubai was delayed by over eight hours on Saturday after the pilot had to abort takeoff due to an unauthorised vehicle on the runway.

Emirates confirmed the aircraft’s tyres were damaged by sharp braking while the jet was picking up speed. The aircraft returned to the terminal where passengers disembarked.

“Passengers were disembarked and a replacement aircraft was arranged and departed from Cairo at 9pm local time, a delay of over eight hours,” an Emirates spokesperson said.

The airline apologised to passengers for any inconvenience, saying that safety was of utmost importance.

“The authorities are investigating the incident, and we are cooperating fully,” the spokesperson said.

Some passengers took to social media to complain about the issue. Michael Estafanous, said on Twitter that the flight made an emergency stop after a vehicle pulled in front of the plane as it was taking off.

“Pretty scary, but worse was the nine-hour wait for another flight with very little information as to what was happening,” he tweeted.

Huda Ali tweeted that the carrier had “failed terribly” to manage the incident. Her son was a passenger and he was delayed by over 10 hours, she said.