Emirates Airlines resumes flights to select cities in US, Qatar Airways, Etihad to continue operations
Jeddah: In a major relief for US bound travellers, Dubai-based Emirates Airlines announced on Thursday that it will operate select flights to Boston, Houston and San Francisco using A-380 aircraft.
It may be mentioned here that a majority of Telugu NRIs and other travellers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh travel between US and India through Emirates and Gulf-based airlines.
A revised statement posted on its site said that Emirates will be suspending flights to six US destinations from January 20 – Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando, and Seattle.
“Customers holding tickets with the final destination to any of the above will not be accepted at the point of origin. Affected customers do not need to call us immediately for rebooking. Customers can simply hold on to their Emirates ticket and when flights resume, get in touch with their travel agent or booking office to make new travel plans,” the statement added.
International carriers that rely heavily on the wide-bodied Boeing 777, and other Boeing aircraft, cancelled early flights or switched to different aircraft following warnings from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Chicago-based plane maker.
Emirates – the world’s largest long-haul carrier – was the first to issue an advisory on Tuesday.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways will continue to operate its flights as per schedule. Also, Qatar Airways said flights to all 12 of its US routes will operate normally. “We continue to operate a reliable schedule for our passengers,” said Qatar’s flagship carrier on Twitter.
The United Arab Emirates successfully rolled out 5G coverage all around its airports without incident, like dozens of other countries. But in the US, the Federal Aviation Administration is worried that the C-Band strand of 5G could interfere with radio altimeters.
Radar Altimeters operate in the 4.2-4.4 GHz frequency range which is comparable to the one issued for telecom operators, that is, 3.7-3.98 GHz on the spectrum range, also known as C-band.
US Federal Aviation Administration had issued a warning that the new 5G service may potentially interfere with the frequency range issued for radar altimeters.
Usage of C-Band has become a cause of concern around the world and invited the necessary halt. Aviation regulatory bodies are worried over coincidence of frequencies which may lead to disturbed readings.
Airlines that fly only or mostly Airbus jets seem less affected by the new 5G service.
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