Emirates and Etihad ‘to benefit from BA flight cuts’

• BA reducing service to Dubai
• Will not fly to Abu Dhabi until late 2027
• Emirates has rise in bookings from UK

Gulf airlines stand to benefit from British Airways’ decision to cut back flights to the UAE, an expert has said.

BA has announced plans to return to Dubai from November 3 with just a single daily service, before running two flights a day from the summer of 2027.

Before the US-Iran conflict began in February, the carrier operated 28 weekly round trips to the UAE – three daily flights to Dubai and one a day to Abu Dhabi.

But there is no place for Abu Dhabi in the company’s scheduling until the winter 2027-28 season, according to a statement.

John Grant, partner at Midas Aviation and an AGBI columnist, said the move would “play” to UAE airlines Emirates and Etihad Airways, but would not be of huge significance for BA.

“Europe’s airlines remain concerned and it’s easy to lose a lot of money in such situations [in reference to the conflict], especially across the winter period, so they’ve cut their losses,” he said.

Further reading:

• Emirates reports spike in Dubai bookings from UK
• John Grant: European airlines count the cost of Middle East disruption⁠⁠​
• Passenger confidence key to continued Middle East aviation recovery⁠⁠

Earlier this week Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer, told AGBI the carrier had seen a 10 percent year on year spike in bookings from the UK for the upcoming midterm break in October.

“We’re well equipped and well served in the UK market in terms of capacity today,” he said. “We can always bring in more capacity to the market if required.”

BA is one of a number of international airlines still not flying to the UAE. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific has suspended flights to Dubai until December 1; Netherlands-based KLM will not fly to Dubai, Riyadh or Dammam until October 25; and Lufthansa, Eurowings and SWISS have suspended flights to and from Dubai also until October 25.