Crash between two aircraft at Dubai International Airport

Two passenger planes from Bahrain-based low-cost airlines FlyDubai and Gulf Air collided with each other on the taxiway at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. The incident left no injuries, but forced the airport to close one of its runways for two hours. However, operations were not affected by the closure.

The accident occurred after the tail of the Gulf Air plane was hit, according to Bahrain's state news agency BNA, in what the agency called "a minor incident". BNA did not mention any damage or injuries and said Gulf Air was "working to reconnect all passengers to their final destinations".

A spokesman for Dubai's state-owned port operator said in a statement to Reuters that "as a result of this, one runway was temporarily closed to allow the minor incident to be managed quickly. Operations at DXB were not affected and the runway was reopened after two hours. 

FlyDubai reported that one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft en route to Kyrgyzstan was reportedly affected by "a minor incident" which forced it to return to the start stand. Similarly, passengers were able to take off on another flight that departed six hours after the incident. The airline said it would "work with the authorities to investigate the incident", adding that the crash caused one of the plane's wingtips to be damaged.

Dubai International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the busiest airport for international flights.