65 flights diverted after drone strike near Dubai Airport

Dubai Airport briefly closed on Monday after a drone strike near the airport caused a fire, forcing 65 flights to divert to 34 airports across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Twenty-two of those were "flights to nowhere" that returned to their departure airports. The longest diversion was Emirates Flight 76 from Paris, which recorded 10 hours and 38 minutes in the air.

The Airbus A380 departed Charles de Gaulle around 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, U-turned over the Saudi desert nearly five hours later, and landed back in Paris shortly before 9 a.m. Other lengthy diversions, including flights from Edinburgh, Dublin, and Manchester, turned back over Egypt and returned about nine to ten hours later.

Airplanes were also tracked returning to Johannesburg, Mumbai, and Uzbekistan. Using Flightradar24 data, a map was made showing each airport that received flights bound for Dubai. Seventeen of the diverted flights landed at Dubai World Central, roughly 30 miles from Dubai International; another five went to Abu Dhabi and Muscat, and four to Al Ain.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai

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