Drone Activity At Dubai Airport Delays Flights, Services Resume After Brief Halt

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international travel, briefly halted flights over “suspected drone activity” early Friday. Several people took to Twitter to complain about the flight delays.

“Stuck for ages at Dubai airport runway unable to taxi as unauthorized drones have entered the airspace here and all takeoffs have been grounded!” Twitter user @anushwij wrote, while another added: "Dubai airport going nowhere due to drone flying around. So thousands of people sitting in planes going nowhere. What is wrong with people flying drones near airports!!!"

A spokesman for Dubai International Airport said flights have resumed but there are still delays, Sky News reported. The halt was reportedly for 30 minutes but caused havoc among the people waiting at the airport, disrupting operations of several airlines.

Alleged drone sightings have previously disrupted flights into the airport, which in 2018 handled 89.1 million passengers.

Recently, there have been several such incidents, including the one at London’s second busiest airport, Gatwick Airport, in December. Drones were sighted on three consecutive days at the airport, disrupting operation and prompting authorities to launch an investigation.

In January, 43 flights to New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport were put on hold after drone sightings at a nearby airport, while nine flights were diverted.