UK opens permanent military facility in UAE

HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, officially opened a permanent UK military facility on an airbase in the United Arab Emirates on 6 March. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom has opened a permanent military facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 March.

Named Donnelly Lines, the facility at Al Minhad Air Base (AMAB) was officially opened by the UK's Princess Anne and senior military and political dignitaries from both countries on the same day as the announcement.

“The siting of Donnelly Lines at AMAB enables the UK to maintain our freedom of action and ability to conduct operations from the UAE, bolstering our operational resilience,” Project Senior Responsible Officer and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Support Operations), Air Vice-Marshal Richard Pratley, was quoted as saying.

As noted by the MoD, Donnelly Lines is named after Sergeant William ‘Billy' Donnelly, a Second World War Royal Air Force (RAF) airman who died in an air crash at nearby Fujairah in 1943.