Dubai: A proposed bill is under way to regulate drone flights and keep Dubai’s airspace safe following a spate of airport disruptions due to misused drones.
The General Secretariat of the Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee has met with Dubai’s aviation safety and security authorities to discuss a draft bill on aviation safety.
Authorities aim to maintain maximum aviation safety measures according to international practices and in line with the standards of International Civil Aviation Organisation and UAE General Civil Aviation Authority. Additionally, the proposed bill will prohibit any practices that could jeopardise aviation safety in Dubai.
The proposed bill considers pertinent UAE’s federal and local legislations and the UAE Constitution. The group agreed to refer the proposed bill to concerned agencies for revision and remarks prior to submitting the same to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for approval.
The recent meeting was attended by Ahmad Saeed Bin Meshar Al Muhairi, Secretary-General of Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee, and Mohammad Abdullah Al Ahli, director-general of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and the chief executive of Dubai Air Navigation Services, in addition to the General Secretariat of the Dubai Executive Council, Dubai Police and Dubai Municipality.
The meeting came on the heels of a forced closure of Dubai International Airport on January 23 following a drone sighting near the approach of the airport. The airport was closed for 55 minutes after the recreational drone was found to have flown near the airport twice.
The incident is the third such case in Dubai in eight months, Al Ahli told Gulf News in an earlier interview.
Al Ahli said that for everyone’s safety, no object should be flown within an eight nautical mile radius around the airport, which overtook Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic in 2014.
