Airlines ‘not judge and jury’ says Emirates’ Barry Brown

Emirates’ Australian boss says it shouldn’t be up to airlines to decide who gets to come home to Australia and who doesn’t.

Airlines flying to Australia have been limited to as few as 30 passengers per flight. Picture: Istock

The Australian boss of Emirates says it should not be airlines’ responsibility to decide who can and who can’t fly to comply with strict passenger caps on flights into Australia.

Airlines have been restricted to carrying as few as 30 passengers on inbound services to ease pressure on hotel quarantine arrangements, resulting in many people being bumped from services at the last minute.

Emirates Australasia vice-president Barry Brown said the demand for travel home to Australia far outweighed the capacity airlines were permitted, forcing carriers to play “judge and jury”.

“It’s not up to us what is compassionate and what is non-compassionate, if you like,” Mr Brown told The Australian.

“Fortunately the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has now stepped in and is evaluating those (vulnerable) cases for us, which takes the pressure off a little bit.”

Since the COVID crisis exploded in late January, Emirates has slashed its flights into Australia from 90 a week to just 11, including three into Melbourne that were not allowed to carry any passengers.

The prospect of more flights appears slim, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg telling the National Press Club on Wednesday that the budget assumed international travel would remain largely closed until late 2021.

Mr Brown said that was “a major concern”.

“If we had to look through to the middle of next year, for example, for the opening of international borders we’d have to run a fairly heavy forensic lens over the costs,” Mr Brown said.

“We’re not going to burn cash just to say we are operating — we have to cover our costs.”

At the moment Emirates is able to cover costs, even with seat utilisation rates as low as 23 per cent on inbound flights, and 52 per cent outbound.

“It’s difficult for us to really make a good return on investment with our flights but fortunately the cargo has been a hero since the pandemic restrictions came into place in March, April,” Mr Brown said.

“The cargo revenues has been like a green shoot for us to allow us to operate under the restrictions the Australian government currently has.”

Like other members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Emirates has pushed for COVID-testing to become a standard part of the passenger experience in the absence of a vaccine.

Mr Brown said it was imperative international travel was able to resume as soon as possible for the sake of global economies, with an estimated 48 million jobs at stake worldwide.

Emirates CEO Barry Brown says it’s “a major concern” the Australian government does not expect international travel to resume until late next year. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“At the moment we’re watching the announcements very closely on when we might expect the international borders to reopen,” he said.

“If you go back to the beginning of the pandemic, they were talking about a trans-Tasman bubble opening by June. Well we’re in mid-October and I guess it’s partially open, so it’s difficult.”

Despite Australia’s reluctance to reopen its borders, Emirates is now operating to 99 destinations, compared to 161 pre-COVID.

The airline even offered COVID insurance as part of its airfares, covering the cost of hotel quarantine and medical care for anyone who contracted the virus while travelling.

To date only one claim had been made, in a reassuring sign for the carrier, which supplies every passenger with a face mask, gloves, hand sanitiser and sanitary wipes.

“There’s no safer place to be than on an aircraft. It’s probably safer than walking through your own home,” Mr Brown said.

It remains to be seen, however, whether all the hygiene measures in the world will be enough to see the widespread return of A380 aircraft, of which Emirates has more than any other airline.

Qantas and Qatar have both grounded their superjumbos and Lufthansa is looking to retire its entire fleet of 14 A380s.

Mr Brown said Emirates continued to use A380s on five routes, and he was confident they would one day return to Australian shores.

“The 777s are the right size aircraft for us at the moment … but the more the borders open up, the more you’ll see the 380s returning,” he said.