Emirates airline will continue flying to Russia unless Dubai government says stop
Emirates airline will continue flying to Russia unless Dubai government says stop
The president of Emirates Airlines said flights to Russia will continue until the UAE authorities order them not to.
2 min read
The Emirates' boss said the airline was experiencing a boom in demand despite oil price increases and the Covid-19 pandemic [source: Getty]
ٳܲ-ǷɲԱhas vowed to continue flying to Russia unless told to stop by the, following an embargo on Moscow by the UAE's western allies.
Sir Tom Clarke, the airline’s British president, said the decision to suspend flights was "not his call" but up to UAE authoritieswho have so far maintained a neutral stanceon Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to the BBC.
Several other airlines, including stopped services to and from Russia after Moscow banned carriers from 38 countries, including all 27 members of the , from its airspace.
The Russian ban followed punitive measures from the West, including sweeping , in retaliation for launched on 24 February.
"We are catering to people who are on the periphery of the main issue here, and that is probably the way the [UAE] government looks at it," said Clarke.
“If we are told to stop we will stop, unless we are told otherwise, we will continue,” he added.
Clarke also said demand for Emirates’ services was "roaring" despite a hike in and the
contacted Emirates to confirm in what instance they would suspend flights to Russia. No response wasreceived before publication.
The UAE, alongside Saudi Arabia,has rejected calls from the West to punish over the Ukraine invasion.
It abstained from a UN Security Council vote to condemn Russia in February and from April's vote to remove Moscow from the
Emirates is now one of the few airlines continuing to fly to Moscow.Othersinclude Turkey's Pegasus Airlines, Air Serbia - for which a number of flights are sold out in April - and Qatar Airways.
Russia’s Aeroflot has suspended all international flights except for services to Belarus' capital Minsk due to sanctions.
Clarke warned that flight suspensions "will have an impact on the [aviation] industry".
