DUBAI (REUTERS) – Flights at Dubai International Airport in United Arab Emirates were temporarily grounded on Friday (Feb 15) morning due to suspected drone activity, a spokesperson said.

The suspension lasted from 10.13am local time (0613 GMT) to 10.45am.

Dubai Airport, the hub for airlines Emirates and flydubai, is the world’s busiest airport for international travellers, serving 81.4 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2018.

The issue of drones impacting commercial air traffic has taken on new urgency after reports of sightings around airports in Britain and the United States.

In January, flights from London’s Heathrow airport were halted for about an hour after a drone was sighted.

Sightings also temporarily halted arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey – 43 flights were required to hold after drones were seen at an airport near Newark, while nine flights were diverted.

Operations at Gatwick Airport, London’s second busiest, were also severely affected in December when drones were sighted on three consecutive days.

People took to Twitter on Friday to complain about the flight delays.

“Stuck for ages at Dubai airport runway unable to taxi as unauthorised drones have entered the airspace here and all takeoffs have been grounded!” Twitter user @anushwij wrote.

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