Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international travel, closed its airspace for 69 minutes due to unauthorized drone activity on Saturday, causing 22 flights to be diverted, aviation authorities said. The closure lasted between 11:36 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. (0639-0745 GMT), causing thousands of passengers disruption to their journeys and the airlines significant additional cost to their operations.
“This is a very serious incident and we obviously take the safety of our customers and our staff extremely seriously,” Griffiths told Dubai’s Dubaieye 103.8 radio. “There are very clear restrictions and no fly zones around all airports in the UAE, saying that this type of activity is actually illegal.” The flying of drones is prohibited within 5 km (3 miles) of airports, helipads, landing areas or manned aircraft in the UAE.
Australia will be introducing new unmanned aircraft regulations on 30 September that could result in an escalation of the Dubia experience. Despite the advice of industry and the rising number of illegal operations, CASA will pass regulations enabling very small drones of less than 2kg to operate for commercial purposes. “The intent is correct”, says Mark Xavier Chief Remote Pilot from V-TOL Aerospace,
Photo: Emirates Airlines aircrafts are seen at Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates May 10, 2016. REUTERS/ASHRAF MOHAMMAD/FILE PHOTO