By Yomna Ehab and Federico Maccioni
DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) – Dubai’s international airport was gradually resuming flights on Monday, authorities said, after a fire caused by a drone attack forced a temporary suspension, further disrupting traffic in one of the world’s busiest air travel hubs.
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran 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, while the crisis sends fuel prices soaring.
Monday’s incident pointed to the challenges for UAE airlines and the wider aviation industry in the effort to ramp up capacity and return operations to normal.
It is the third attack at the Dubai international airport (DXB) since Iran launched assaults on Gulf nations on February 28, with strikes Tehran has said 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.
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.
The Emirates airline said it expected to partially resume operations at 06:00 GMT following the attack, which affected a fuel tank near the airport, but caused no injuries.
Some flights had been cancelled, Emirates added on its website, while sister airline flydubai also halted flights temporarily. Some flights were diverted to the Al Maktoum International Airport.
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 condemned Iran.
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; Additional reporting by Maha El Dahan and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez)
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