Dubai: Emirates will be cutting down on its flights to the US following the recently imposed electronics ban coupled with visa restrictions resulting into weakened travel demand.
The airline said in a statement on Wednesday that starting next month it would be reducing flights to five of the 12 US cities it currently serves, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Seattle, Boston and Los Angeles.
“This is a commercial decision in response to weakened travel demand to US. The recent actions taken by the US 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 US,” an Emirates spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Gulf News.
The spokesperson added that Emirates will closely monitor the situation “with the view to reinstate and grow our US flight operations as soon as viable.”
The airline further said it has, over the past three months, seen a “significant deterioration” in the booking profiles on all US routes, across all travel segments. “Emirates has, therefore, responded as any profit-oriented enterprise would, and we will redeploy capacity to serve demand on other routes on our global network,” the spokesperson said.
From May 1 and May 23 respectively, Emirates’ Fort Lauderdale and Orlando operations will move from daily services to five a week. Its Seattle and Boston operations will move from twice-daily services to a daily service from June 1 and 2 respectively. And from July 1, the airline said, its operations to Los Angeles will move from twice-daily to a daily service.
