Emirates won't accept Heathrow diktat: "We will not reduce passenger numbers"
Drastic stance by Emirates against London Heathrow Airport's decision to impose a limit on passengers who [...]
Drastic stance taken by Emirates against the London Heathrow Airport decision to impose a limit on the number of passengers who can transit the British airport each day.
In this article:
"LHR chose not to act, not to plan, not to invest. Now, faced with an 'airmageddon' situation because of their incompetence and non-action, they are pushing the entire burden of cost and travel to fix the mess onto the airlines and travelers."
"It is highly regrettable that last night LHR gave us 36 hours to comply with the capacity cuts, a figure that seems plucked out of thin air. Their communications not only dictated the specific flights on which we would have to eject paying passengers, but also threatened legal action for non-compliance. This is completely unreasonable and unacceptable, and we reject these claims. Adding to the complexity, the 70% of our LHR customers are headed beyond Dubai to see their loved ones in distant destinations and it will be impossible to find them new connections any time soon."
So begins the press release from the Dubai-based carrier, which at the London airport flies as many as six flights every day, all operated with its flagship, the A380, That rise to 8 at this time.
"At London Heathrow Airport (LHR), our ground handling and catering services are fully ready and able to handle our flights. So the crux of the matter lies in the central services and systems that are the responsibility of the airport operator," the statement continued.
"Moving some of our passenger operations to other UK airports at such short notice is also unrealistic. Ensuring readiness on the ground to manage and Turning a long-range widebody aircraft with 500 passengers on board is not as easy as finding a parking space in a shopping mall."
"The bottom line is that LHR's management team is dismissive of travelers and their airline customers. There were all signs of a major travel rebound, and for months Emirates has been publicly expressing the issue. We planned in advance to get to a state of readiness to meet customer and travel demand, including the re-hiring and training of 1,000 A380 pilots in the last year," the carrier closed.
Â
- 6,000 Mile Registration Bonus
- Collect miles WITH EACH PURCHASE
- Your miles with no expiration*
- No fees for ATM withdrawals and foreign purchases
- Without having to change banks
- Autonomous card activation
- Multi-function mobile application
- Free travel insurance
- Free credit for up to 7 weeks
- Contactless Payment
- Mastercard® SecureCode