Emirates airline authorised to resume a limited number of flights after grounding during Coronavirus pandemic

Emirates airline authorised to resume a limited number of flights after grounding during Coronavirus pandemic

DUBAI’S Emirates airline has “received the authorisation of the Emirates authorities in the Arab States to resume a limited number of passenger flights,” as announced by the executive director of the company, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, in a Twitter post.
“As of April 6, these flights will initially carry passengers departing from the United Arab Emirates,” said the representative, adding that more details will be released soon.
On March 25, Emirates suspended all commercial air connections due to Covid-19 and after the United Arab Emirates ordered “the suspension of all passenger flights to the country within 48 hours.”
“The measure aims to protect communities from the spread of Covid-19. As such, Emirates will temporarily suspend all passenger flights from March 25, 2020,” the company said at the time.
The United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven Persian Gulf states of which Dubai is a member, has so far announced 814 cases of infection with coronavirus, including eight fatalities, and has taken several steps to limit the spread of the pandemic.
The chief executive of Emirates said, in the same message posted on Twitter, that the airline is working to gradually resume passenger flights.
“Emirates eagerly awaits the gradual return of passenger flights with the lifting of travel restrictions,” he said.
With the airline industry being one of the most affected by the current situation, Emirates has decided to cut costs by lowering base salaries by 25 per cent to 50 per cent for the majority of its 100,000 employees.
The company, which transported around 90 million passengers last year, justified the measure, saying it was to avoid redundancies