Delayed flights and angry passengers: An unauthorized drone near the airport briefly shut down Dubai's air traffic on Friday morning. The flights were suspended for almost half an hour, the Emirates' media office said. Specifically, it affected all launches from 10:13 to 10:45 (local time). In the meantime the air traffic is running again.

At first, travelers complained about delays via Twitter. Dozens of flights could start according to the airport website only with a long delay.

Dubai International is one of the most used airports in the world. In the first eleven months of 2018, 81.4 million passengers were handled here.

The authorities of the United Arab Emirates point out via Twitter that it is punishable to let drones fly without permission. Drone owners in the Emirate are required to register with the Aviation Authority. It is forbidden to attach cameras or lasers to drones and also certain areas are taboo for their use.

On Twitter, travelers vented their anger. "Hang here forever on the tarmac," wrote about the user @anushwij.

We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow and are working closely with the Met Police to prevent any threat to operational safety. As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologize to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause.

- Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) January 8, 2019

Threatening drones had caused air traffic disruptions for days at Gatwick Airport, London's second-largest airport, in December. Also at the beginning of the year there were such incidents: in London-Heathrow there was an approximately one-hour suspension. And at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, USA, aircraft were also unable to launch in January due to drone sighting.

Following recent British drone incidents, London's airports have bought Heathrow and Gatwick millions of pounds worth of military anti-drone technology. The new equipment is already in operation.

A collision between a drone and an airplane is dangerous. Even a bird can break a cockpit screen in the worst case.