The biggest airline in the Gulf, Emirates, is resuming flights at scale – despite its hub at Dubai airport being the target of an Iranian attack.
Following fresh drone strikes in the UAE city, flights were briefly suspended on Saturday and passengers were taken into tunnels at the airport, which is normally the busiest global hub in the world.
But Emirates said it would continue to ramp up its operations to and from its hub at Dubai.
The carrier said in a post on X that it expects a swift return to normality, saying: “The airline anticipates a return to 100 per cent of its network within the coming days, subject to airspace availability and the fulfilment of all operational requirements.
“Safety, as ever, remains paramount as is our duty of care.”
“Following the partial re-opening of regional airspace, Emirates is operating a reduced flight schedule while working to restore full network operations.
“We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority. Customers should only proceed to the airport if they have a confirmed booking.”
Emirates is prioritising links to the UK and India. Signalling a return to commercial operations rather than repatriation flights, the carrier is selling tickets for its flights between Dubai and eight British airports.
London Heathrow is receiving multiple daily arrivals, with tickets on sale for flights from Dubai from Monday 9 March onwards.
Test bookings made by The Independent show the following departures as being the first on sale from other UK airports:
While Emirates is ramping up links to and from Dubai, Virgin Atlantic is suspending flights. Its Saturday arrival to Dubai from London Heathrow turned back because of the latest Iranian attack on the airport.
Virgin Atlantic plans one more outbound flight to Dubai and the inbound return before suspending operations on the route for the rest of the season.
Qatar Airways plans to operate six passenger flights to its hub at Doha on Monday 9 March, including from London Heathrow. The airline stresses these flights are “only for passengers whose final destination is Doha” and says: “Passengers are kindly asked not to arrive at their departure airport unless they hold a valid confirmed ticket for travel.
“These flights do not constitute a confirmation of resumption of scheduled commercial operations.”
