Emirates Stops Flights to Australian East Coast

Emirates Stops Flights to Australian East Coast
An Emirates Airline flight from Dubai lands becoming the first commercial Airbus A380 jet to land in the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Aug. 1, 2008. Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images
Caden Pearson
Updated:

Emirates airlines has indefinitely suspended flights to and from the east coast of Australia citing “operational reasons.”

The international airline announced the decision on its website on Jan. 15.

Its last journeys to and from Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane will operate between Jan. 16 and Jan. 20.

“Customers holding tickets with final destinations Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin after the completion of the above flights,” the company stated on its website. “Emirates regrets any inconvenience caused. Affected customers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options.”

Emirates did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The airline’s announcement comes after the Queensland government reported on Jan. 10 that two Emirates aircrew tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The aircrew tested positive in hotel quarantine along with two passengers from the United Arab Emirates.

Two of cases travelled from the United Kingdom, but Queensland Health told The Epoch Times they did not have the UK variant.

The federal government, with the support of state and territory leaders, recently reduced its repatriation of stranded Australians to 50 percent until Feb. 15 following rising numbers of positive CCP virus cases among returned travellers.

New South Wales is now taking 1,500 arrivals a week instead of its usual 3,000.

Emirates will still fly to Perth twice a week.

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