Two Gulf aircraft involved in 'minor incident' at Dubai airport

(Reuters) - The tail of a Gulf Air passenger aircraft was hit by another plane at Dubai International Airport on Thursday, Bahrain's state news agency BNA reported, in what a Dubai Airports spokesperson described as a minor incident.

UAE General Civil Aviation Authority said on Thursday in statement, "This morning a minor collision occurred between two planes, one belonging to Fly Dubai and the other to Gulf Air on a runway at Dubai International Airport resulting in minor damage to the tail of one of the two planes and the wing of the other, without causing any human casualties."

BNA did not identify the other carrier, but United Arab Emirates airline flydubai confirmed that one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft was involved in a "minor incident" with another plane on the taxi way with initial reports showing damage to the wing tip.

"As a result of this, one runway was temporarily closed to allow for the minor incident to be swiftly managed. Operations at DXB were not impacted and the runway was reopened after two hours," a spokesperson for Dubai's state airport operator, Dubai Airports, said in a statement to Reuters.

BNA made no mention of any injuries or damage and said Gulf Air was "working to reconnect all the passengers to their final destinations".

A flydubai spokesperson said in an email to Reuters none of its passengers or crew were injured, adding that passengers were accommodated on a later flight, which had departed.

Bahrain's Gulf Air did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Robert Birsel and Steve Orlofsky)