Emirates criticises Heathrow’s demand...

The airline accused the airport of having a ‘blatant disregard’ for customers

Dubai-based carrier Emirates has heavily criticised Heathrow Airport’s management after an announcement that the hub would cap passenger numbers to 100,000 per day over the summer period.

Emirates accused the airport of choosing “not to act, not to plan, not invest" and said it was given 36 hours to cut departing passenger numbers. The airline referred to the cap as “entirely unreasonable and unacceptable”.

A statement said: "They wish to force Emirates to deny seats to tens of thousands of travellers who have paid for, and booked months ahead, their long-awaited package holidays or trips to see their loved ones."

The airline also said it has been preparing for the resurgence in international travel over the past year and had rehired and trained 1,000 pilots. It added it had been observing regularly high seat loads, so its operational requirements could not have been a surprise to the airport.

Heathrow has said it had no choice but to bring in a cap on departing travellers.

In a statement, the UK’s largest airport said: "For months we have asked airlines to help come up with a plan to solve their resourcing challenges, but no clear plans were forthcoming and with each passing day the problem got worse."

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Emirates claims Heathrow has threatened legal action if it doesn't comply with the demand to cut flights; however, the airline said that it plans to operate flights to and from the airport as scheduled.

The cap on passenger numbers at Heathrow Airport will be in place from now until 11 September.

For more information, visit www.heathrow.com