Dubai: Emirates airline and flydubai are facing a reduction in services next summer due to runway repairs at Dubai International Airport.
The northern and second runways at the world’s second busiest airport are scheduled to undergo maintenance repairs from May 1 to July 20.
A spokesperson for Dubai Airport said airlines were informed earlier this year that capacity would be reduced by 28 per cent during the 80-day repair period.
Further details on the reduction of services have emerged in a letter sent by Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths to airlines in April. The letter is available on aviation website www.acl-uk.org.
Airlines will be required to reduce their operations to Dubai Airport due to significant capacity reduction resulting from single runway operations, the letter reads.
A Dubai Airports spokesperson said he would not comment on the authenticity of the document.
The letter includes plans for Emirates and flydubai to cut their total combined services by 22 per cent.
Runway upgrade
An Emirates spokesperson said the airline had a close working relationship with Dubai Airports and was aware of the need for the runway to be upgraded.
A Dubai Airports spokesperson said airlines would have to make changes to flight schedules in line with reduced capacity.
Gaith Al Gaith, CEO of flydubai, labelled the runway repairs as a “disturbance.” “The scheduled upgrade to Dubai International’s runways next year will be a disturbance for flydubai resulting in flight cancellations,” Al Gaith said in an e-mail.
flydubai have yet to make a decision on flight schedules for the second half of 2014.
“We are currently assessing whether we will operate some of our flights, during the 80-day closure period, from Dubai World Central [DWC] and therefore we have delayed, until later this year, our plans to open our summer 2014 bookings,” Al Gaith said.
The letter to airlines said DWC will be available to “absorb affected scheduled flights.”
Data on the Emirates website shows a reduction in flights during the maintenance period.
Search results
A search using ‘book a flight’ showed the airline flies twice daily in March 2014 from Dubai to Amsterdam on EK0147 and EK0149. The same search in May 2014, during the runway upgrade, showed just the one daily EK0147 flight. The Dubai to Frankfurt route also reflected a one daily flight reduction in May 2014 when compared to March 2014.
An Emirates spokesperson said the airline supported the runway upgrade but would not comment on which flights had been altered between May 1 and July 20.
“We fully support the airport enhancements, which are in the wider interests of Dubai’s development as a global aviation hub. Emirates will provide full cooperation with any rescheduling required and adjust operations accordingly,” the spokesperson said.
At present, there are no scheduled changes to Emirates’ partner airline Qantas.
A Qantas spokesman previously told Gulf News that it expected to operate all scheduled flights through Dubai during upgrades. Qantas currently operates four daily flights out of Dubai Airport.
Slot allocation
“The runway works are still nine months away and we plan to have our slot allocation finalised in the next few weeks,” the Qantas spokesman said.
The Dubai Airport spokesperson said an independent slot coordinator conducted a study into the impact of operating with the findings presented to airlines earlier this year.
Non-base airlines with multiple daily frequencies could also be faced a 50 per cent reduction in their schedule due to the runway work. “Airlines with a single daily operation will be protected as much as possible, however this cannot be guaranteed,” the spokesperson said.
Oman Air, Gulf Air and Qatar Airways operate multiple daily services to Dubai.
Data on the Qatar Airways website reflects a reduction in two daily flights from Dubai to Doha when comparing dates in March 2014 to May 2014. Qatar Airways could not be reached for comment.
