Emirates reopens flights between Dubai and UK

23/04/2010

By James Wilson.

The first Emirates flight touched down at London Heathrow Airport yesterday (April 22nd) after disruptions caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

According to the carrier, an Airbus A380 brought more than 500 passengers to the airport from Dubai after six days of flight cancellations.

The flight landed at 12:21 GMT after the airline provided accommodation for over 6,000 stranded passengers at a cost of around $1 million (£650,000) per day.

Links to Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, London Gatwick and Glasgow also recommenced yesterday.

Salem Obaidalla, Emirates senior vice-president of commercial operations in Europe and the Russian Federation, said the company is "relieved" to be once again offering flights between Dubai and the UK following the disruption caused by a cloud of volcanic ash.

"I should stress, we are not out of the woods yet - we still have thousands of passengers whose journeys need to be put right and we will continue to work tirelessly to address their needs."

Emirates is currently offering all-inclusive packages for travel to the Fifa World Cup this summer.