Dubai airport reopens after plane accident

DUBAI, Mar 12 (Reuters) Dubai airport, the West Asia's busiest, reopened today after an accident involving a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft forced its closure for more than seven hours, causing major disruption to flights.

Aviation authorities said 27 people were slightly injured in the 0800 hrs IST accident which happened during takeoff.

No details of the cause of the accident were available.

Dubai civil aviation authorities are investigating.

''Flight BG 006 from Dubai to Dhaka, carrying 229 passengers and crew, had an accident during departure and failed to take off,'' a Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) statement said.

The airport reopened at about 1530 hrs IST, but the closure affected 71 flights, it said.

Dubai, one of seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates, is the biggest trade and tourism centre in the Gulf region. Its airport is a major hub for transfers between Europe and Asia.

Thirty-six outgoing flights were cancelled and 35 incoming flights were diverted to airports in neighbouring emirates or to Oman, Kuwait or Iran's Shiraz airport, the statement said.

''The closure of the runway ... was primarily to inspect its condition and ensure that operations could be resumed. We are operational at full capacity but passengers should check with their respective airlines to confirm the status of their flights,'' DCA spokesman Huraiz Bin Huraiz said.

Some passengers complained there was no information about their flights.

''It's crazy, I can't get any sense out of anyone,'' Joe Murphy, 73, in transit on his way from Australia to Britain, said during the closure. ''All I want to know is what's happening.'' ''First they told me the flight was on, then it was off,'' said Marc Latamie, 54, hoping to take a flight to Paris. ''I have no idea what is happening.'' The normally packed airport shopping area was deserted as passengers thronged information and transfer desks or were taken away on buses.

More than 28.7 million passengers and 1.4 million tonnes of freight passed through Dubai International Airport in 2006, according to its Web site (www.dubaiairport.com).

Biman, bailed out by a government loan last year, said in December it planned to lease four aircraft to enable it to resume flights on routes it had had to cut for lack of airworthy planes. Biman stopped flights to New York, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Brussels last year because of aircraft shortages.

It has been flying to 21 destinations with a fleet of 13 aircraft, two of which are grounded awaiting repairs.

REUTERS MS HS1848