Emirates to Cut 25% Flights on Closure of Dubai Southern Runway

(Bloomberg) -- Emirates plans to reduce its number of flights by 25 percent during the closure of Dubai International Airport’s southern runway for 45 days.

The closure, scheduled between April 16 and May 30 for maintenance, will result in up to 48 Emirates aircraft not being utilized, the world’s largest long-haul carrier said in a statement.

The northern runway, one of the two at the airport, was closed for 80 days in 2014 as it underwent refurbishment. The closure cost Emirates Group an estimated $467 million impact on revenue, according to its financial statement.

The Dubai government-controlled airline said it’ll take delivery of six new Airbus A380s in its 2019-2020 financial year and retire seven Boeing 777s. Emirates took delivery of its last Boeing 777-300ER in November and will commence taking deliveries of the next generation Boeing 777Xs in 2020.

To contact the reporter on this story: Layan Odeh in Dubai at lodeh3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net, Bruce Stanley

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.