Air India, Air India Express Suspend Dubai Flights Today After Drone Incident

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]

Air India and Air India Express announced on Monday morning that their flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled for the day, following the temporary suspension of all flight operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB).

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DXB suspended operations temporarily on Monday morning after a drone-related incident impacted one of the fuel tanks in the vicinity of the travel hub and caused a fire.

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Dubai Media Office (DMO) quoted the Civil Defence teams as saying that the situation remained under control, with no spread of the fire, which was successfully contained.

The Indian carriers offered all affected passengers the flexibility to choose to rebook their flight to a future travel date, or they could cancel and receive a full refund.

On Sunday evening, Air India and Air India Express announced that they would operate 48 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the Middle East region on March 16, 2026.

Both carriers also announced scheduled operations to Jeddah and Muscat on March 16, including a total of 10 flights between India and Jeddah. Air India said it would operate one return service each from Delhi and Mumbai, while Air India Express was scheduled to operate one flight each from Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Mangalore.

In addition, Air India Express yesterday said it would operate 12 scheduled flights to and from Muscat, with one service each from Delhi, Kannur, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram and two services from Kochi.

In addition to the scheduled services, Air India and Air India Express announced a plan to operate a total of 26 non-scheduled flights to and from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, subject to the availability of slots and other prevailing conditions at the departure stations at the time.

“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused by these unavoidable operational constraints. Air India Express' ad-hoc flight operations to and from Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah will continue as announced,” the airline said on Monday.

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