Sumit has more than 10 years of experience as a professional journalist. Having written for The Independent, Evening Standard, and others, his role here allows him to explore his enthusiasm for aviation and travel. Having built strong relationships with United Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Iberia, Icelandair, and more. Sumit excels in both travel history and market analysis. Based in London, UK. This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.
Dubai International Airport has been hit by an Iranian, forcing an evacuation at the busy hub in the United Arab Emirates. There have been a series of strikes across the Middle East following the United States’ and Israel’s joint operation on Iran on Saturday morning.
Before the hit on the airport, there had been several reports of strikes across Dubai, including at The Fairmont, a popular hotel on The Palm. There were also explosions in Jordan and Kuwait, forcing widespread cancellations and diversions across the Middle East. Qatar’s Ministry of Defence also shared that there were attacks attempted on its land, with its forces intercepting about 44 missiles and eight drones.
Thousands evacuated as smoke spread through the airport’s terminal
Since the attacks earlier in the day, panic ensued at Dubai International’s Terminal 3, thousands of passengers scrambling to evacuate as alarms blared. AIRLIVE reported that Emergency services and Dubai Civil Defence rushed to the scene to address the fires caused by the explosion.
By 5 pm EST today, over 1,800 flights were canceled flying to and from the Middle East. Moreover, several routes were diverted. Over 340 of these were at UAE airports, meaning 32% of the country’s flights didn’t go ahead.
Dubai-based Emirates has 269 flights scheduled through March 3rd. Of these, 177 are canceled, leaving, in total, 65% of flights not going ahead. Additionally, compatriot, Etihad has 100 of its 200 flights canceled.
With Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Israel all closing airspace, and the UAE partially closed. Passengers looking to leave the zone will be keeping a close eye on flight updates.
