UAE’s Emirates airlines had refused to go as per the directives from Heathrow Airport for it to cancel flights to act in accordance with a cap on passenger numbers.
This week, the west London airport presented a 100,000 passenger cap, which means that flights must be rescheduled or cancelled.
On Tuesday, July 12, it pleaded with airlines to not to sell summer tickets as it imposed the cap, which will stay till September 11 this year.
Over congestion at terminals has resulted in long queues, with passengers lining up outside during a heatwave, several of luggage were not returned to their owners, and thousands of flights were cancelled.
On Wednesday, July 13, a US Delta plane carrying only luggage flew out of Heathrow airport as it was forced to improvise to give the bags back to the passengers.
The airline charged Heathrow incharges of showing blatant disregard for customers by trying to force it to reject seats to tens of thousands of tourists.
It stated that Heathrow’s demands were ‘unjustifiable and unacceptable’ and also said that the airport management was cavalier regarding its travellers and airline customers.
An Emirates statement stated that LHR (London Heathrow) last evening gave a time of 36 hours to comply with capacity cuts, of a number which appears to be plucked from thin air.
It further added that their communications not only stated the particular flights on which they should throw out paying passengers but also warned them to take legal action for non-compliance.
This is unreasonable and unacceptable, due to which we reject these demands.
Emirates stated that it would persist in its business as usual to and from Heathrow until further notice.
It stated that its ground handling and catering crews were fully prepared and capable of managing planned flights, and moving to different UK airports at such short notice is not realistic.
It also suggested shareholders must scrutinise the decisions of the management team of the airport.
The airline stated that 70% of its passengers from Heathrow were set to travel on connecting flights from Dubai, signifying the effect the rejected cuts would have on its own operations.