Amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and heavy restrictions on air travel across the globe, Dubai based Emirates Airlines has announced the temporary suspension of most of its passenger operations from 25 March, however some passenger flights and its cargo services will still be in operation.
Some limited routes are still operational to support the repatriation of passengers until further notice, as long as their borders remain open, and there is demand for the fights. These include between the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, USA, and Canada. As this is very fluid and subject to change at anytime time, passengers are advised to check flight status on emirates.com.
The airline is maintaining passenger flights as long as feasible to help travellers return home.
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group said: “As a global network airline, we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot viably operate passenger services until countries re-open their borders, and travel confidence returns. By Wednesday 25 March, although we will still operate cargo flights which remain busy, Emirates will have temporarily suspended all its passenger operations. We continue to watch the situation closely, and as soon as things allow, we will reinstate our services."
The airline says that it supports government measures to safeguard community health. On the workforce front, the group has confirmed that there will be no job cuts, but employees will be given basic salary cuts for three months.