Emirates has dismissed calls by Heathrow Airport airlines to stop selling summer tickets, calling the move “unfair and unacceptable”. The airline accused the airport of being “ridden about”, as it decided to limit the number of passengers that could depart each day in the summer to 100,000.
Emirates said the figure appeared to be “pulled out of thin air”. It said it planned to operate flights to and from the airport per schedule.
In a statement strongly criticizing Heathrow management, Emirates accused the airport of “gross disregard” for customers.
The limit on the number of passengers at Heathrow Airport will remain in effect from now until September 11. Emirates said the reduction represented “a more than 50% reduction” compared to when Heathrow handled an average of 219,000 passengers in 2019.
Thousands of UK passengers have been affected by disruption recently, many of whom have suffered last-minute flight cancellations.
As schools begin to break down, the UK is about to enter a significant summer holiday season, and there are concerns that travellers will be hit by further disruption and travel delays.
The airline said for the past ten months, as international travel had recovered from being grounded, it had boasted “regularly high seat loads”, so “our operational requirements cannot be a surprise to the airport”.
It said rebooking passengers was “impossible” with all of its flights at total capacity over the next few weeks, which included services at other London airports and on other airlines.
“Moving some of our passenger operations to other UK airports at such short notice is also unrealistic,” the airline said. “Ensuring ground readiness to handle and turnaround a widebody long-haul aircraft with 500 passengers on board is not as simple as finding a parking spot at a mall.”