Cites Low Demand For Seats

Emirates Airline has parked about 20 airplanes due to low demand during the summer months.

Gulf News reports that Emirates president Tim Clark confirmed the move during a conversation on the sidelines of the IATA Annual General Meeting held in Sydney, Australia last week.

Clark said the airplanes were parked because travel demand is down during Ramadan, and overall during the month of May. "Demand for travel is down significantly in the Muslim world. It's down by about 50 percent," Clark told reporters.

Clark denied that the airplanes had been grounded due to a pilot shortage or the large number of pilots that are reportedly leaving the carrier. He said Emirates has a reputation of being able to retain its pilots. He did say that the airline is facing a pilot shortage, but that "by the winter of this year, we'll have as many pilots as we're going to need."

He did not elaborate on how many pilots that might be.

Clark said that the airplanes that had been idled would be returned to service by September or October.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report