If you are planning to fly to Dubai next summer, be prepared to pay more for your flight tickets. Authorities at various Dubai airports have asked Indian carriers to reduce their capacities by half. This is being done because of the runway closure for 45-days from April 16, 2019. As a result, the airfare to Dubai will go up next summer.
Indian carriers flying to Dubai account for about 65,000 seats a week. The CEO of Dubai Airport, Mr. Paul Griffiths has asked the Indian authorities to reduce this number to half in a letter written by him in February. Dubai airlines, Emirates and Fly Dubai have also been asked to make reductions in their flights flying from India.
According to the letter, The Dubai airport authorities have asked Emirates and Fly Dubai to reduce their total operations by 33 percent and airlines flying to the airport on a regular basis to reduce their capacities by 50 percent. The letter, however, said that the 33% reduction by the Dubai based airlines will contribute to 55% of the airport’s total cuts.
This decision by the Dubai airport has been met with much criticism as Indian carriers feel that reductions in the number of seats is not equal and discriminatory. India has been generous to Dubai when it comes to bilateral traffic rights. According to officials working with Indian carriers, this situation is not new and airlines in India have faced this kind of treatment when they got the least desired slots during slot allocation in 2016.
Dubai airport officials, in March, had announced that the closure will happen from April 16th-May 30th next year because of maintenance work and installation of upgrades. Flights will be diverted to Al Maktoum International airport during this period. These upgrades are being done to increase the safety and capacity of the runway.
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