By Yomna Ehab, Federico Maccioni and Linda Pasquini
DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) – Dubai’s international airport was gradually resuming flights on Monday after a fuel tank fire caused by a drone attack forced a temporary suspension, spotlighting the challenge for regional carriers grappling with the Middle East crisis.
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran, now in its third week, has thrown global aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted, as most Middle East airspace stays shut over fears of missile and drone attacks.
With the Gulf a global crossroads for commercial aviation, the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted travel, sent fuel charges and ticket prices surging, hit flows of goods such as critical medicines and thrown holiday plans into disarray.
Monday’s incident, causing a fuel tank blaze but no injuries, is the third attack on the Dubai airport since Iran launched assaults on Gulf nations on February 28, with strikes Tehran says aim at the U.S. presence in the region.
While the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries host U.S. military facilities, Iran has used missiles and drones to target civilian facilities such as airports, hotels and ports.
Flights in the region are at about half their usual level, though their number has risen since the start of the war.
ATTACKS PROMPT DIVERSIONS
Drone and missile fire has regularly kept aircraft circling Dubai’s busy airport, heavily affecting Middle East tourism worth about $367 billion a year. Air freight rates have also surged as much as 70% on some routes.
In a statement on X, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority flagged a “gradual resumption” of some flights to selected destinations, the Dubai Media Office said.
Emirates airline said it expected to partially resume operations at 06:00 GMT after the attack, which prompted authorities to divert some flights to the smaller Al Maktoum international airport.
A Reuters reporter on board an Emirates plane from Rome to Dubai observed the disruption, as security concerns forced the aircraft to divert abruptly when it came in to land early on Monday, going instead to the inland city of Al Ain.
The airline told passengers it planned to fly them back to Dubai as the airspace had re-opened. At one point it said it would arrange a bus for the 130-km (81-miles) road trip back to the coastal city.
On its website, Emirates said it had cancelled some flights scheduled for Monday, while sister airline flydubai also halted flights temporarily.
Air India and Air India Express said in a statement flights with Dubai had been cancelled for the day.
Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since February 28, with targets including U.S. diplomatic missions and military bases but also key oil infrastructure as well as homes and offices.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Iran’s arch-foe Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of the attacks. But all Gulf Arab states have been affected, and all have criticised Iran for the attacks.
On March 11, two drones fell near the international airport, which suffered damage on the first day of the conflict during an Iranian attack across Gulf states.
(Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo; Linda Pasquini, Maha El Dahan and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.