Hi, not sure if you knowledgable people can help me, a friend booked flights with Emirates from Manchester to Dubai on EK 20 dated the 30th December, he booked through Hays travel, about a week before he was due to leave, he was informed by Hays Travel that the flight would not be operating and offered his his money back or a reschedule flight.
The flight did operate I watched it take off and land as expected, This was to be a new year holiday for him and family members, I suggested to him that it may be the flight was overbooked. That�s the only reason I could see, but to say the flight was not operating is not correct and I find it u usual they would offer him a full refund straight away.
anyone any ideas, he has made a complaint to Emirates.

The problem in getting to the bottom of this is that it was booked through a TA. Whilst that may have advantages, it also means that EK does not want to know you as an individual until the first leg has been flown, they usually just refer you to the TA. Have you asked the TA for an explanation? How were they informed / instructed to cancel the booking?

I would start by looking through Hays Travel initial docs and finding the airline PNR. Even if its cancelled, you can call EK and ask them to tell you why it was cancelled. It's rare even if a flight is oversold to have a flight cancelled in advance, usually happens if there is a seat issue on the flight or something but usually EK will upgrade or manage that at the desk as you may get a no show.

Since it was a Man flight and cancelled within 14 days, he may be entitled to EU261 but needs to get some more info as to cause of cancellation