For those who were unaware, Dubai Airport is going to be doing a major resurfacing of one of the runways at the airport.
One of the requests from the airport operator was to reduce home airlines flights by 22% (Emirates an FlyDubai) and for other operators to reduce flights by 50% (according to a letter at http://www.acl-uk.org/UserFiles/File/Annex%20Northern%20Runway%20Closure%20Local%20Rule.pdf) .
That’s a lot of capacity reduction.
Well it seems Emirates is first to the table, announcing service cuts during this period – and they’re harsh. Airline Routes has a full list at http://airlineroute.net/2013/06/23/ek-s14update1/. However, here are some of the highlights:
- Dubai – Bangkok Reduce from 5 to 4 daily
- Dubai– Colombo Reduce from 17 to 7 weekly
- Dubai – Doha Reduce from 6 to 3 daily
- Dubai – Hong Kong Reduce from 3 to 2 daily
- Dubai – Riyadh Reduce from 4 to 2 daily
- Dubai – Seychelles Reduce from 12 to 7 weekly
- Dubai – Vienna Reduce from 13 to 6 weekly
Looking at the list, no North American destination has been targeted yet, and Europe has got away lightly compared to Asia.
Suffice to say there is a warning. This is only the first bank of cuts. I’d expect a lot more as the runway closure date draws nearer. Also bear in mind that this is just Emirates so far.
Anyone else flying into Dubai will have to make cuts too….
I doubt flights to/from India would be affected either.