Flights diverted from Sharjah International Airport

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Sharjah International Airport today saw diversion of many flights because of suspected drone activity in the area.

Six Air Arabia flights bound for Sharjah were diverted between 7 am and 9 am but they departed for Sharjah International Airport a short time after they arrived in Ras Al Khaimah.

The operations were normalized in the international airport after a short span of time.

Passengers said that the pilot had announced that drone activity was the reason behind the closure of Sharjah airport airspace and that the airport airspace was reopened after the drone activity.

As many as eight flights were diverted to Ras al-Khaimah. Earlier Dubai airport was shut down for a brief period in September due to drone activity.

Experts say that even if a small portion of drone touches plane, it can be dangerous.

Sharjah Civil Aviation Authority has now claimed that Sharjah Control Tower was told about the presence of a drone near Sharjah International Airport.

The Department of Sharjah Civil Aviation later suspended air operations in accordance with the guidelines of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority.

After authorities got assured that the air space was obstacle-free, the air traffic was brought back to normal after an hour.

As per the Air Arabia officials, a few Air Arabia flights were diverted from Sharjah International Airport this morning to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport because of the suspected drone activity. The operations got back to normal shortly afterwards.

Anyone found using a drone without a licence in the UAE or any restricted airspace can be slapped with a fine of Dh 20,000. As per norms, the devices are not supposed to be flown within 5 kilometres of an airport.

Earlier in September, arrivals were briefly suspended at the Dubai International Airport because of the same reason (due to suspected drone activity). Back then, the flights were diverted to the Dubai World Central and Sharjah International Airport.

On February 15 Dubai Airport experienced departure delays between 10:13 am and 10:45 also from suspected drone activity.

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