Dubai's airport, one of the world's busiest, resumed some traffic earlier this week despite daily drone attacks. Emirates said as recently as Friday that it believed it could be back to full service in the "next few days." Abu Dhabi-based Etihad also said on Friday it would resume limited scheduled flights.
But after this morning's explosion at the airport, Emirates initially canceled all flights, and a short while later the airport closed completely to traffic until further notice.
Sweden has announced that it will charter a plane to bring back stranded travelers. The plan is for this flight to take off from Dubai on Saturday evening. There is no new information at this time.
The travel company Apollo still has about 150 travelers in the United Arab Emirates. The plan is to fly them home with Emirates from Dubai on Sunday and Monday, press spokesperson Martina Krantz tells TT.
Ving had 54 passengers in Dubai and Qatar on Friday, the majority in Dubai. The number is estimated to be the same on Saturday morning.
"If Emirates cancels flights, it will also have an impact on us," Ving's press spokesperson Anna Hagberg tells TT.
Around 4,300 Swedes are in the United Arab Emirates, half of whom are stranded travelers.
TT is seeking comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
