Emirates has announced that it will be reducing flights to more than 40 destinations in order to accommodate the necessary traffic reduction at Dubai International Airport. This is due to an 80-day period (May 1 – July 20) during which the airport runway will be upgraded.
The Gulf-based carrier has stressed that while the service reductions and change of timings on some of its flights is necessary, customers booked to fly between the months of May and July will not be affected.
In addition, as flight schedules are planned months in advance, customers or travel agents currently search for flight options on Emirates will only be able to see flights that are available. Meanwhile, the carrier will also be deploying larger aircraft, such as the Airbus A380, on certain routes in order to lessen the impact of capacity reductions.
“Customers who have booked to fly with us, or are considering to fly with us during this time, can be assured that it is business as usual,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates. “On routes where Emirates has had to reduce frequency, we have upgraded to bigger aircraft where possible to recover part of the capacity.”
Clark stated that the reduction in services would impact the airline’s revenues by approximately AED 1 billion (US$272 million). However, Emirates recognises the need for the upgrading works, and reiterated that the Gulf-based carrier supported the move wholeheartedly.
The reductions will lead to the airline having a “grounded fleet” at Dubai International Airport, and Emirates intends to take advantage of the down time by performing its own engineering maintenance and onboard enhancements to its aircraft.
In addition, the Emirates engineering team will carry out its first-ever landing gear change to an existing Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. This will represent the start of a programme which will see the same being implemented on more than 70 other Boeing 777s.
For more information, visit www.emirates.com
Clement Huang
