Emirates has rejected London Heathrow’s (LHR) demands that airlines reduce their flight schedules in order to adhere to a passenger volume cap. In light of the present delays during the busiest travel season of the summer, the airport has requested that carriers cut back on flights.
The airline warned that if capacity cuts were not complied with, LHR airport will file a lawsuit and give Emirates 36 hours to comply.
“This is entirely unreasonable and unacceptable, and we reject these demands,” Emirates outlined in a statement.
Emirates announced that beginning October 2021, six daily Airbus A380 flights have been operating to LHR and that “operational requirements cannot be a surprise for the airport.” The Dubai-based airline also said that transferring part of its passenger operations to other UK airports at such short notice or rebooking the “sheer” numbers of possibly impacted customers is not realistic.
“LHR chose not to act, not to plan, not to invest. Now faced with an “armageddon” situation due to their incompetence and non-action, they are pushing the entire burden – of costs and the scramble to sort the mess – to airlines and travelers,” Emirates added.
The announcement comes shortly after Heathrow urged airlines to stop selling tickets and set a limit on the number of people it can accommodate. The airport stated that it thinks the combined capacity of the airlines, ground handlers, and the airport during the high summer months is no more than 100,000 departing passengers per day.
“Some airlines have taken significant action, but others have not, and we believe that further action is needed now to ensure passengers have a safe and reliable journey,” Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said in a statement published in July 12, 2022. “We have therefore made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap with effect from 12 July to 11 September.”
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