Flights resumed on a limited basis from Dubai International Airport on Monday night, as the U.S.-led attack on Iran caused widening chaos in the Middle East and tens of thousands of passengers faced travel disruptions.
Emirates Airline, whose hub is Dubai, said on its website that it began operating a “limited number of flights” Monday evening, prioritizing travelers with existing bookings. Passengers should not go to the airport unless they have been notified, the airline said.
The flights were the first since Saturday to take off from Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest travel hubs. Major airlines serving the region — including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Oman Air — suspended and diverted flights from affected areas since Saturday, when the United States and Israel began a major military campaign against Iran. Tehran has responded by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates and other Persian Gulf countries, which are home to some U.S. military bases.
The budget carrier FlyDubai said that four flights would leave Dubai for destinations in Russia on Monday, and that five incoming flights were scheduled from countries including Somalia and Pakistan.
In Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E. capital and another travel hub, the international airport had “partially resumed” operations on Monday.
Fewer strikes were reported on Monday in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, compared to the weekend. Early in the day, a rocket flew over the city, according to eyewitness video, Reuters reported.
U.A.E. air defenses successfully intercepted nine ballistic missiles, six cruise missiles and 148 drones over the past day, the defense ministry said Monday afternoon.
Over the weekend in Dubai, five-star hotels caught fire, explosions shattered the windows of apartment towers and the international airport was damaged, injuring four people. Amazon on Sunday said it had to shut off the power supply to one of its facilities in Dubai after unspecified objects struck a data center, causing a fire.
Deborah Kapchan, a recently retired professor of performance studies at New York University, who is scheduled to fly to Paris from Abu Dhabi next week, said that she had always considered Abu Dhabi to be the safest place she had ever lived so it was jarring to be there now.
“I’m anxious to get out just because it’s very tense knowing that there are drones flying around,” she said.
Jenny Gross is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news and other topics.
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