PRESS STATEMENT - 20th APRIL 2010
20 abr 10, 19:00
Emirates is working flat out to ensure that customers whose travel has been disrupted by the volcanic ash clouds can be moved on as quickly as possible.
Around 100,000 passengers around the network have been affected. At the height of the disruption, Emirates was accommodating about 6,000 people in hotels across Dubai. That figure is gradually being reduced as European airspace re-opens.
Flights have been operating to Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Russia, but the situation remains fluid and subject to change. We are closely monitoring developments.
Emirates estimates that around 20,000 of its passengers are being inconvenienced for each day that the disruption continues. The airline has been losing around $10 million per day and a fifth of the fleet has been grounded. Nearly 600 flight deck and cabin crew are also stranded throughout Europe. The longer the situation goes on, the more complicated the recovery becomes.
In terms of the contingency plan, once flights begin operating, we will do our very best to take care of passengers whose trips were first disrupted. Passengers have been very patient and we are grateful for that. We ask everyone to bear with us.
As you can imagine, Emirates is receiving a very high volume of calls to our contact centres. We'd ask all customers to go to www.emirates.com for the very latest flight information, which is updated every five minutes. We must stress that passengers should not to go to the airport without a confirmed booking.
Passengers who are booked to travel during the next five days may wish to consider if their travel is essential, and possibly cancel their trips to allow those stranded to be accommodated.
As always, our primary concern is for the safety of our passengers and crew and this will not be compromised.
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- Página Web: www.emirates.com