Dubai: Emirates has confirmed that it is being charged with breaching curfew restrictions at Sydney Airport.
The charge could result is more than A$1.5 million in fines, according to Australian media.
The Department of Infrastructure and Transport has charged the airline with three alleged breaches of the Sydney Airport curfew, according to the Sydney Morning Herald
A spokesperson for the airline said that “as this matter is the subject of a legal process, Emirates will not be providing further comment at this stage.”
Commercial airlines are restricted from flying between 11pm and 6am at Sydney Airport with no more than 24 movements (either a take off or landing) allowed between 5am and 6am and zero movements allowed between 11pm and midnight.
The hearing has been scheduled for December 17 later this year.
In 2012 Barry Brown, then-head of Emirates Australia, defended a breach of Sydney Airport’s curfew stating that it was in the interest of the 550 passengers whom the airline would have had “no way” of finding accommodation for if the flight had been grounded.
According to the airline’s website, Emirates currently operates three daily flights to Sydney from Dubai.
