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Exclusive| Viineet Kumar Siingh: Everyone’s phones started ringing at the airport when UAE airspace was closed

Actor Viineet Kumar Siingh, who was in Dubai, talks about facing flight delays due to the closure of UAE airspace amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran.

Published on: Jun 24, 2025, 15:49:53 IST
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The tensions between Israel and Iran have been getting out of control, and Viineet Kumar Siingh experienced it first hand on Monday. All set to take a flight back home to Mumbai from Dubai, he learnt that the UAE airspace had been closed. He took to his Instagram Stories to share an update, “9:23pm Dubai Time. Immigration Done. Waiting at the gate for my flight. Fingers crossed.”

Viineet Kumar Siingh
Viineet Kumar Siingh

Talking to HT City exclusively, he reveals how everything unfolded, “I was at the airport, when I suddenly started getting calls and messages. Upon checking, I found that the UAE airspace had been closed due to the situation. There was no activity for some time despite it being a 9:40pm take-off, so I had already understood something is up. But the authorities didn’t let any panic take shape. In some time, everyone’s phones started ringing, but the staff managed everything. We took off around 10:45pm finally.”

Also read: Vineet Kumar Singh returns home after being stranded in Dubai due to Middle East airspace closure: 'We were clueless'

The 46-year-old stresses on the importance of utilising social media responsibly. He continues, “If someone posts unverified, false information, it’s easy for panic to spread. I always therefore verify news myself first. Airport pe baatein shuru ho gayin thi war ke baare mein, I still didn’t believe it. Zaroori nahi jo news dikhe voh authentic ho. I always remain calm in stressful situations. The moment I landed, my entire family was happy. I thought I will enter my house quietly, but everyone was awake and hugged me. Kisi ko idea nahi hota hai ki kab kitna escalate ho jaaye situation. Apne country mein badi badi ghatnaaeyein ho gayin recently. Par obvious hai, jo pyaar karte hain, unke fikar hoti hi hai.”

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rishabh Suri

Rishabh Suri is an Assistant Editor, film critic, and professional overthinker of plot points. He writes for HT City, keeping pace with an industry where news cycles expire long before the popcorn gets cold. He completed his graduation in English Honours from Kirori Mal College, followed by a Master’s degree in English Literature-effectively training his brain to over-analyse classic texts before applying those exact same skills to 3-hour Bollywood blockbusters. He got into the profession when he had barely graduated from college and has been at HT ever since. At HT, Rishabh reviews films with a simple rule: skip the dense academic jargon and get straight to the point. Beyond reviews, as Assistant Editor, he helps navigate the broader circus of showbiz, tracking everything from OTT shifts to sudden box office panics. In a beat driven by loud PR machinery and carefully scripted answers, Rishabh prefers cutting through the noise to focus on how stories get made and why trends shift. When he isn’t writing against a deadline, he is usually sitting in a dark theater, compulsively memorising dialogues. For Rishabh, analysing movies isn't just a day job- it’s a habit he couldn't turn off even if he tried.

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