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Emirates will reduce frequencies on five of its 12 routes to the U.S., citing a drop in demand due to policies put in place by the Trump administration.
“The recent actions taken by the U.S. government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the U.S.,” the carrier said in an email to Travel Weekly.
Last month, Emirates’ Dubai hub in the United Arab Emirates was one of 10 Middle Eastern and North African airports made subject to a new carry-on ban for U.S.-bound flights on electronics larger than a laptop. The Trump administration has also attempted to issue a travel ban to the U.S. for nationals of six Muslim-majority countries — though the United Arab Emirates is not on that list.
Emirates will reduce service from twice-daily to daily on its Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle routes. The carrier will reduce service from daily to five times per week between Dubai and Fort Lauderdale and Dubai and Orlando. The changes will begin in May on the Florida routes, in June on the Boston and Seattle routes and on July 1 for the Los Angeles routes.
Emirates and fellow Gulf carriers Etihad and Qatar have been engaged in a protracted war of words over the past two years with the Big 3 U.S. carriers American, Delta and United, which accuse the Middle Eastern airlines of accepting more than $50 billion in state subsidies since 2004 in violation of international aviation agreements. The Gulf carriers deny those charges.
On Wednesday, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, an organization comprised of the Big 3 and U.S. airline industry unions, which has lobbied the White House to restrict the U.S. expansion of Gulf carrier networks, issued a statement dismissing Emirates’ claim that Trump administration policies are the cause of the cuts.
“Their business model is based on growing their networks without regard to profitability in order to serve their governments’ goals to dominate global aviation,” chief spokeswoman Jill Zuckman said.
Emirates painted a very different picture in its statement Wednesday.
“Until the start of 2017, Emirates’ operations in the U.S. has seen healthy growth and performance, driven by customer demand for our high-quality product and our international flight connections,” the company said. “However, over the past three months, we have seen a significant deterioration in the booking profiles on all our U.S. routes, across all travel segments.”
Sоurсе: travelweekly.com
