Emirates planes fly to Dubai nearly empty - Bloomberg

Emirates airline is operating virtually empty flights to Dubai as passengers avoid flights to Gulf countries because of the war, Bloomberg writes. Flights from the U.S. and continental Europe have been hardest hit. According to data collected by the airline from Dubai, planes returning, for example, from Prague or Budapest, are only 5-10% full. At the same time, in the reverse direction, the airplanes are fully loaded.

Several Emirates flights from New York arrived loaded at about 20 percent capacity, and at least one flight in the past week left with fewer than 35 passengers aboard an Airbus SE A380 (the plane has a 500-passenger capacity). Flights from Chicago also departed half-empty, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg.

But from Dubai, Emirates liners are fully loaded, with many passengers trying to leave the city on the limited number of available planes, Bloomberg notes.

In addition, the airline faces thousands of passengers daily not showing up for flights departing from Dubai, according to an internal Emirates document. That makes it difficult to manage operations, which typically include hundreds of daily flights, Bloomberg notes. The company is offering refunds and flexible ticket rescheduling until the end of the month.

Despite weak passenger demand for flights to Dubai, Emirates is actively loading its planes with cargo, which provides an additional source of revenue and ensures the delivery of goods, particularly perishables. Emirates is emphasizing the use of Boeing 777 aircraft because they are better suited for cargo transportation than the Airbus A380, Bloomberg points out.

The Strait of Hormuz is virtually closed, so air transportation remains one of the few ways to deliver necessary goods, the agency explains. The work of the UAE's state-owned airline Emirates has been severely disrupted by the threat of Iranian missiles and drones in the region's airspace. Since the start of the Iran war, several drone incidents near Dubai airport have resulted in damage to infrastructure and minor injuries to four foreign nationals, the agency writes. This led to the closure of the airport and canceled flights. Thus, on Monday, March 16, Dubai International Airport and Emirates airline suspended operations after a fire in a fuel tank at the airport.

The Middle East's other major regional airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, have also resumed operations that were suspended due to the conflict in the Middle East, but are operating a reduced number of flights, focusing on evacuating passengers stranded in the Middle East. Emirates remains the region's largest carrier and has ramped up operations from Dubai faster than rivals since the war began, Bloomberg emphasizes. Emirates now operates at least six times as many flights as Qatar Airways, the second-largest Gulf carrier.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor