The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has barred airlines from landing at the Dubai International Airport, giving a blow to the hopes of resuming flights to the world’s busiest airport and one of the biggest market for Indian airlines.
The decision was taken by the civil aviation authority of the UAE after a fuel deport got damaged due to a drone strike on Monday, according to a report by The Economic Times.
However, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE didn’t give any reason for the decision to suspend landing on the airport.
Earlier in the day, the airport had resumed flights before announcing a temporary halt after a suspected Iranian drone hit a fuel tank near the facility. The strike triggered a massive fire.
In a communication, the GCAA said airlines that no carriers will be allowed to land at Dubai International Airport or Al Maktoum International Airport till further notice.
India’s largest airline carries IndiGo in a statement said that it had cancelled flights from the airport. The West Asian region contributes 30 percent to Indian airlines’ international traffic with the Dubai airport leading.
Since the United States-Israel-Iran war began in the region, the Dubai airport has come under attack of Iran several times. This has led to fires and blasts near the airport, leading to operational disruptions.
While on March 3, UAE authorities said they had opened safe air corridors enabling airlines to operate up to 48 flights per hour as part of a gradual restoration of air traffic, foreign airlines were allowed to operate only one flight per day.
On Friday, UAE’s civil aviation regulator had said that the country’s national carriers had achieved a 44.6 percent recovery in operating levels compared to their capacity before the war.
Repeated flight disruptions are expected to hut airline companies’ business in the coming days as there are no signs of the war getting to its end.
