Emirates refuses to reduce capacity at London-Heathrow
Emirates said on Thursday it had rejected demands from London Heathrow airport to cut capacity despite being threatened with legal action, and would continue to operate as scheduled.
Britain’s busiest airport this week asked airlines to stop selling tickets for summer flights, capping the number of daily passengers flying at 100,000 to ease pressure on operations that have resulted in delayed flights and cancelled, Reuters reported.
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“It is highly unfortunate that Heathrow gave us 36 hours to meet the capacity cuts, a figure that seems to have been plucked out of thin air,” Emirates said in a statement.
“Until further notice, Emirates plans to operate as scheduled to and from Heathrow.”
The airline said 70% of its Heathrow passengers were booked to travel on connecting flights from Dubai, highlighting the impact the cuts would have on its own operations.
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He also said it was not practical to move flights at short notice to other British airports and it would be impossible to rebook fully booked passengers in the coming weeks.
Emirates accused Heathrow management of having a “blatant disregard” for consumers and incompetence for failing to plan for the surge in demand that the pandemic had suppressed since 2020.
The airline’s flights to and from Heathrow have seen regularly high occupancy over the past 10 months, and Emirates said it was clear there would be strong demand this summer.
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