The main airport in Maldives was shut down for a few hours on Tuesday after a Flydubai aircraft encountered a tyre burst on landing. 

The Maldives Airports Company (MACL) confirmed on Twitter that an aircraft ground incident was declared at Velana International Airport in Male after an aircraft suffered a tyre damage. 

“Passengers and crew are safe. The runway is temporarily closed,” MACL said on Tuesday. The airport resumed normal operations after more than three hours, MACL confirmed. 

Flydubai’s Boeing flight FZ 1569 from Dubai, operated by 737 MAX 9, was attempting to land on Male’s runway when the incident occurred. No injuries were reported.  

In a statement to Zawya, Flydubai confirmed that all passengers and crew aboard the aircraft had safely disembarked and that it is in touch with the flyers regarding their onward travel arrangements. 

“The safety of our passengers and crew remains our number one priority at all times. We are in touch with our passengers regarding onward travel arrangements from Male. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our passengers’ schedules,” a spokesperson said. 

(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Daniel Luiz) 

Cleofe.maceda@lseg.com