Dubai International Airport faced an unexpected shutdown this morning following an explosion believed to be the result of an Iranian drone strike in the vicinity. Passengers were evacuated from aircraft, and flights were suspended, causing significant disruptions.
Among those affected were British travelers, who found themselves stranded as the airport ceased operations and terminals were cleared. Many were left in a frantic search for alternative means to leave the United Arab Emirates.
Mike Linn, a tourist from Edinburgh, shared his determination to reach the airport despite the turmoil caused by the drone incident. “We saw some reports online while still at the hotel, but we decided to head to the airport anyway,” said the 51-year-old.
Accompanied by his wife, Lisa, a 49-year-old clinical researcher, and two other couples, Mike expressed their urgent desire to return home. “We were supposed to fly back on Tuesday, but multiple cancellations have left us uncertain about our current bookings,” he explained.
Travelling with his wife Lisa, 49, a clinical researcher, along with two other couples, he added: ‘We’re desperate to get home.
‘We’d been due to return on Tuesday, but various various cancellations, meant we were booked on various flights which we don’t think would go.
‘We’ve got a 15-year-old and a 21-year-old back home. The 15-year-old’s staying with friends until we can get back.
Explosions were reported near the airport around 8am local time (4am GMT), with a fire seen burning close to the site.
Video circulating online appears to show a projectile heading toward the airport as a man behind the camera shouts: ‘It’s coming, it’s coming to the airport.’
Explosions were reported near Dubai International Airport around 8am local time (4am GMT), with a fire seen burning close to the complex after another suspected Iranian drone attack
Video circulating online appears to show a projectile heading toward the airport as a man behind the camera shouts: ‘It’s coming, it’s coming to the airport’
British tourist Mike Linn from Edinburgh said he came to the airport determined to leave, despite the drone chaos. Pictured: Mike and Lisa Linn at the airport
Moments later a huge explosion erupts, sending thick plumes of smoke billowing into the air. ‘Oh my God,’ he adds.
Linn said the couple had tried to change their travel plans as the situation worsened.
‘We were meant to be flying back to Edinburgh, but yesterday we managed to book on a flight to Heathrow,’ he said.
‘Then when we arrived at the airport I saw a post on Twitter from Emirates saying flights were cancelled again.’
The airport has since partially reopened.
Retired civil engineer Fergus Anscombe, 70, from Falkirk, said he had not heard about the drone incident when flights later resumed.
Asked if he planned to have a beer once airside while queueing to check in for his flight to Edinburgh, he said he likely would.
There were two sites where debris from the incoming drones hit at the airport, sending up a huge cloud of smoke and dust.
One, close to the terminal, struck the wall of a passenger walkway and it was described as a miracle that no-one was hurt. The word ‘Departures’ could just be made out from the huge letters which had largely been blown off the wall.
Dubai authorities were quick to claim that there had been ‘no incident’ at the airport, but confirmed there had been a successful interception of a drone, with no injuries reported.
Other loud bangs were heard 30 miles away along the coast at Ras Al-Khaimah.
At least two emergency alerts sounded on mobile phones and passengers already on flights ready to leave were deboarded and the terminals evacuated – the first time such measures had been taken since the war began.
Damage likely from debris shot down in the drone attack was visible after a small fire began on the side of the passenger walkway at the busy Terminal 3, which handles Emirates flights.
Flights were suspended around 10am local time (6am GMT) and police cars blocked all entrances to the airport causing traffic chaos.
It comes as Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, announced on Saturday that it was suspending all flights to and from Dubai until further notice, after an aerial interception took place over Dubai airport during attacks from Iran.
‘Please do not go to the airport,’ the airline said in a statement on X.
Iran has unleashed a series of furious retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, launching attacks on Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel in a series of assaults that have left the region in flames.
Drones have struck oil facilities and airports in Iraq as US-led troops gunned down several potential attacks over the Kurdish city of Erbil amid warnings of possible attacks on hotels.
A network of Iranian-backed Shia factions, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, claimed it launched an attack on a US military base near Baghdad Airport ‘in retribution’ for the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed last Saturday.
Pictured: Passengers waiting to board flights at Dubai airport this morning
Pictured: Damage at Dubai airport following drone strikes this morning
Meanwhile, Israel and Iran have continued to exchange fire overnight, with the IDF confirming it had launched a fresh wave of attacks against ‘terror targets’ in the Dahiyeh District of Beirut, Lebanon, as the war enters its eighth day.
Iran also fired its twenty-third round of strikes, a statement from IRGC-affiliated Tasmin news agency said as the IDF reported missiles coming from the region towards Israel had been detected.
Explosive flames and billowing smoke has been raging over Tehran after airstrikes struck Mehrabad International Airport in the early hours of this morning.
Nine out of ten drone attacks launched towards Qatar were intercepted, with the tenth striking an uninhabited area, the country’s Ministry of Defence said, while also confirming no injuries were caused.
Four drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field in Saudi Arabia were intercepted and destroyed over the Empty Quarter desert, officials confirmed.
At the same time, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Britain ‘stood ready’ to defend its ally.
