Coronavirus: Fresh blow as Emirates stops flights again

The UK’s ban on flights from Dubai will further limit the chances of thousands of Australians trying to return home.

Dubai’s status as a COVID hotspot has prompted the UK government to ban flights from the city, forcing Emirates to cancel those services. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images

Thousands of Australians hoping to return home from the UK have been dealt a further blow after Britain banned flights from Dubai due to its status as a “COVID hotspot”.

The ban has forced Dubai-based carrier Emirates to cancel flights in and out of London and Ireland, from 11pm on Friday (AEDT).

In a short website update, Emirates noted the suspension of services at the direction of the UK Government, until further notice.

“We regret the inconvenience caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agent or Emirates call centre for re-booking,” said the message.

Of the estimated 40,000 Aussies stranded overseas in the current pandemic, about 4500 are believed to be in London.

Difficulty getting home has been exacerbated by restrictions on hotel quarantine places in Australia which have limited the number of passengers airlines are able to carry.

Emirates has been one of the biggest carriers of returning residents since the COVID crisis erupted, continuing to fly into Australia despite being limited to as few as 30 passengers a flight.

Data from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics showed in November, Emirates operated 146 inbound services which carried a total of 2059 people.

Each of those flights had an average seat utilisation of 16.4 per cent, compared to 32.6 per cent on outbound services.

Only Singapore Airlines operated more flights into Australia in November, with 241 inbound services carrying 4220 people.

Earlier this month, Emirates briefly suspended flights to Australia’s east coast for “operational reasons” on the back of a further reduction in hotel quarantine places.

The suspension caught out hundreds of travellers, many of whom had been trying to return home for months.

However Emirates resumed services this week and apologised for the inconvenience.

“The pandemic has made international flying incredibly challenging and the dynamic restrictions and requirements implemented by the different state authorities in Australia had added complexity and burden to our operations,” an airline spokesman said.

“This led us to temporarily suspend passenger services while we engaged with various stakeholders regarding crew protocols and other operational details.”

The Australian is awaiting further information from Emirates on any impact on flights to Australia, as a result of the UK ban.