Officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) moved to quash reports of an incident at Dubai International Airport on Saturday morning after passengers were ordered to ‘shelter in place’ on three seperate occasions and planes were forced into holding patterns over the desert.
Dubai Airport had faced repeated disruption on Saturday morning, during what is a busy time when many flights from Europe are due to land. Later, Emirates confirmed that all flights were suspended until further notice and urged passengers not to head to the airport.
Dubai authorities have confirmed that a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception has been successfully contained. No injuries have been reported. Authorities have also denied reports circulating on social media regarding any incidents at Dubai…
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 7, 2026
The first reports of problems emerged at around 6:30 am (local time) on March 7 when Dubai Airport issued an emergency alert telling passengers and staff to seek shelter in designated safe spaces.
Around the same time, photos emerged on social media of what appeared to be a cloud of thick black smoke in the sky in close proximity to the airport. Analysts quickly suspected that a low-altitude interception of an Iranian drone was the cause of the smoke.
Within minutes, Dubai’s official government communication department, the Dubai Media Office, issued a statement on its official X account, denying reports of an incident at the city’s primary airport.
Flights bound for Dubai are holding after a reported drone/missile strike in close proximity to the airport. https://t.co/Xv8JfcamE6 pic.twitter.com/Q41IirIJCV
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 7, 2026
Smoke seen rising from near Dubai International Airport, following a possible ballistic missile or drone strike by Iran. pic.twitter.com/3gYTgoONat
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 7, 2026
“Dubai authorities have confirmed that a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception has been successfully contained. No injuries have been reported,” the statement read.
It then added: “Authorities have also denied reports circulating on social media regarding any incidents at Dubai International Airport.”
As this statment was being published, multiple planes that had been due to land at Dubai International Airport were going round in circles over the UAE desert, while departures were also suspended.
The Dubai Media Office did not follow up its post with any further information on why flights to Dubai International Airport were disrupted, including several that abandoned their landing approaches at the last minute.
Multiple Emirates flights were forced to divert to Dubai World Central Airport, as well as other airports across the region, including Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Muscat.
Whatever has happened, it couldn’t come at a worse time for Emirates, which, on Friday, had announced that it planned to return to 100% of its network within the coming days.
After the UAE authorities opened several ‘safe air corridors’ to allow the resumption of flights, Emirates has been steadily rebuilding its network. On Thursday, the Emirates carried 30,000 passengers, and by Saturday, the airline was planning to operate 106 daily return flights to 83 destinations.
There is some speculation that Iran is deliberately targeting Dubai International during busy periods, as the airport works on a ‘bank’ system in which lots of arrivals are scheduled to arrive in quick succession at around the same time.
Many major airports ‘bank’ flights because it allows for optimal connection opportunities, but it does mean that any disruption can snowball.
Also on Saturday, Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) reopened for the first time since US and Israeli strikes on Iran got underway last weekend. Qatar Airways has been permitted to operate a very small number of repatriation flights from Doha to Europe, but normal scheduled services remain suspended.
