Emirates to Suspend Most Passenger Operations

Emirates has announced that it will temporarily suspend most of its passenger operations by March 25.

However, responding to requests by governments and customers to support the repatriation of travellers, the airline will continue to operate passenger and cargo flights to 13 countries and territories: the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, USA, and Canada.

These flights will take place until further notice, as long as borders remain open and there is demand. Travellers can check flight status on emirates.com.

The airline continues to maintain vital international air cargo links for economies and communities, deploying its fleet of 777 freighters for the transport of essential goods including medical supplies across the world.

Cost reduction measures

According to Emirates, the company has undertaken a series of measures to contain costs, which include postponing or cancelling discretionary expenditure, encouraging employees to take paid or unpaid leave in light of reduced flying capacity, and a temporary reduction of basic salary for the majority of Emirates Group employees for three months, ranging from 25 to 50 percent.

Meanwhile, the company has strongly discouraged its employees from non-essential travel, implemented work from home policies for all employees where operationally feasible, enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols at its facilities, introduced temperature screening at its key office entry points, and launched internal educational campaigns on hand hygiene and health practices to reduce risk of COVID-19.

Over the past weeks, the airline has also implemented enhanced cleaning and disinfecting measures on all of its aircraft departing Dubai as a precaution, and worked closely with airports to implement screening measures as required by the local authorities.