Virgin Atlantic Stops London-Dubai Flights
Jennifer Billock July 03, 2018
British expats in the United Arab Emirates are coming to terms with an odd decision from Virgin Atlantic; the airline recently announced, for no particular reason, that it would stop services between Dubai and London’s Heathrow Airport.
As of last week, Virgin Atlantic has decided it will no longer operate flights between Dubai and London Heathrow. The airline didn’t give much of an explanation, simply noting in a release reported by AME Info that the route is “no longer economically viable.”
The decision potentially came as a response to an announcement by Emirates a few weeks ago that it will be offering a new route to London, making the cost less worthwhile. But with Virgin Atlantic pulling out of the route, it will only leave two airlines for travelers to take—British Airways and Emirates—and there are a lot of travelers. The majority of expats from the UK living in the UAE center around Dubai, and this will limit their options for getting back home. But, Emirates and British Airways are likely to have lower operating costs than Virgin, simply because of size and, in the case of Emirates, lower taxes and extra costs thanks to not operating out of the UK.
On the flip side, UAE airlines will not be pulling out of the British market.
“UAE companies have invested across Britain, creating jobs and building homes,”, UAE’s Ambassador to the UK Sulaiman Al Mazroui, said, in an article reported by AME Info. “Investments by Emirates airline support more than 29,700 jobs in the UK, including many at Airbus factories in Wales and the south west of England, and also Rolls-Royce in Derby, where engines for the planes are produced.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
