Airlines
Emirates To Suspend Passenger Services by March 25
The Dubai-based air transport giant will shut down passenger flying while imposing a 25 to 50 percent salary cut.
An Emirates Airbus A380 touches down at Manchester International Airport in the UK in 2010. The Emirates A380 fleet, the largest in the world, will sit virtually idle by March 25. (Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Transport Pixels)
An Emirates Airbus A380 touches down at Manchester International Airport in the UK in 2010. The Emirates A380 fleet, the largest in the world, will sit virtually idle by March 25. (Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Transport Pixels)

Emirates Airline said on Sunday it will suspend most passenger operations by Wednesday, March 25, as international travel comes to a virtual halt amid border closings and evaporation of demand due to the Covid-19 crisis. The Dubai-based airline, the world’s fourth-largest carrier in terms of scheduled passenger miles flown, will continue to support customer repatriations and maintain what Emirates Group chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum called a still-busy Boeing 777 cargo operation. The near-total suspension of passenger services, however, will see the world’s largest Airbus A380 fleet almost completely grounded along with most of the rest of the airline’s long-haul passenger jets.