The recent outage at Dubai’s airport has disrupted the travel plans of thousands of UK passengers.
Dubai The international airport announced on Monday, at 1.36am GMT, that it had suspended flights after the drone struck a nearby fuel tank.
Several Emirates flights already in the air were diverted, while others waiting to take off were cancelled.
Five flights from UK airports had to return to their points of origin, including the journey from Edinburgh, before returning to Egyptian airspace.
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Other passengers on the flight from London Stansted were almost bound for Dubai, but were instead diverted to Vienna, Austria.
Major closure United Arab Emirates The hub will affect thousands of people hoping to eventually return to the UK after being stranded in the Middle East or at other airports where UK flights connect in the region since the US and Israel launched its war on Iran.
On Monday, all seven Emirates flights from Dubai to London Heathrow were cancelled.
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Later in the morning, Dubai International Airport said flights were “gradually resuming to selected destinations”.
Flights to and from the airport were severely affected for several days afterwards Beginning of US-Israeli operations against Iran On February 28.
Workers inspect the damage caused by a drone strike overnight at the Address Creek Harbor Hotel in Dubai. Image: AP
Around half a million passengers a day use the airports of Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, which serve as major hubs for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia.
Qatar flights to resume
However, Qatar Airlines flights will resume on Friday, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
Helen McEntee at X said: “We are pleased to announce that Qatar Airlines has informed us that it will resume flights from Doha to Dublin on Friday 20 March 2026.
“There will be four direct flights per week from that date.”
