Despite being threatened with legal action, Emirates airline said on Thursday that it had rejected Heathrow Airport’s demand to reduce capacity and that it would continue to operate on schedule.
This week, Britain’s busiest airport asked airlines to stop selling tickets for summer flights, limiting the number of daily passengers flying from the hub to 100,000 in order to relieve pressure on operations, which has resulted in delayed and cancelled flights.
‘It is thus deeply regrettable that (Heathrow) last evening gave us 36 hours to comply with capacity cuts, a figure that appears to have been plucked from thin air,’ Emirates said in a statement.
‘Their communications not only dictated the specific flights on which we should evict paying passengers, but also threatened legal action for failure to comply.’
‘Until further notice, Emirates intends to continue operating to and from (Heathrow).’
Emirates, which is owned by the Dubai government, is one of the world’s largest long-haul operators. It does not have a domestic market.
The airline stated that 70% of its Heathrow passengers were booked to travel on connecting flights from Dubai, highlighting the impact of the rejected cuts on its own operations.
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