The importance of drone monitoring has increased after sightings of drones around British and American airports were reported last year.
All flights at the Dubai International Airport were halted for half an hour after officials reported suspicious drone activity near the airport.
The suspension was in effect from 10:13 am to 10:45 am local time (0613-0645 GMT), after which the authorities confirmed that there was no imminent threat. The services were resumed shortly, and the Dubai Media Office posted a tweet to inform everybody of the same.Dubai Airports confirms that operations at Dubai International are back to normal after less than 30 minutes of delay due to unauthorized drone activity.
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 15, 2019
As per a statement to Al-Arabiya TV by General Civil Aviation Authority Director-General Saif Mohammed al-Suwaidi, there are severe penalties in the United Arab Emirates for unauthorised drone activity. The importance of drone monitoring has increased after sightings of drones around British and American airports were reported last year.
Dubai airport spokesperson confirms flight departures delayed due to suspected drone activity pic.twitter.com/J9zkMXDS0V
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 15, 2019
In January, London’s Heathrow airport suffered a similar fate when its flights were halted for almost an hour. Sightings also paused flight activity at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
Many passengers took to Twitter to post their complaints.Stuck for ages at Dubai airport runway unable to taxi as unauthorized drones have entered the airspace here and all takeoffs have been grounded! This seems to be happening often in airports everywhere. Recently in Gatwick also
— Anush Wijesinha (@anushwij) February 15, 2019
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!!!
— Andrew Todd (@andrewjtodd) February 15, 2019
After the officials stepped in to take action, they claimed there was “a guy in the desert” behind the drone. Whether or not he was arrested is not clear.
