Orlando is among
five of Emirates’ 12 U.S. destinations that will see cuts in service starting next month. The company’s reason? The Trump administration’s efforts to ban travelers from Muslim-majority nations.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Orlando is among five of Emirates’ 12 U.S. destinations that will see cuts in service starting next month — which the Middle East’s largest airline attributes to falling demand stemming from tougher U.S. security measures and the Trump administration’s efforts to ban travelers from some Muslim-majority nations.
Emirates began daily service to Orlando International Airport in September 2015. Those flights will be trimmed to five times weekly. Local officials in 2015 lauded the service as opening direct flights to Central Florida for millions of potential tourists living within a single four-hour flight to the airline’s home hub.
Emirates cut flights to the U.S. by 20 percent Wednesday. The Dubai governmentowned carrier’s decision is the strongest sign yet that new measures imposed on U.S.-bound travelers from the Mideast could be taking a financial toll on fast-growing Gulf carriers that have expanded rapidly in the U.S.
Dubai was one of 10 cities in Muslim-majority countries affected by a ban on laptops and other personal electronics in carry-on luggage aboard U.S.-bound flights.
Emirates’ hub at Dubai International Airport, the world’s third-busiest, is also a major transit point for travelers who were affected by President Donald Trump’s executive orders temporarily halting entry to citizens of six countries.
The latest travel ban suspended new visas for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and froze the U.S. refugee program. Like an earlier ban that also included Iraqi citizens, it has been blocked from taking effect by the courts.
“The recent actions taken by the U.S. government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins, have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the U.S.,” the carrier said in a statement.
Emirates does not provide financial data for its U.S. operations or individual routes, but said it had seen “healthy growth and performance” there until the start of the year.
Since Trump has been in office, however, there has been what it called “a significant deterioration in the booking profiles on all our U.S. routes, across all travel segments.”
It said it is responding as “any profit-oriented enterprise would” and will use the capacity freed up by the culled routes elsewhere on its network.
The Americas region, which also includes routes to Canada and Latin America, accounted for 14 percent of the $22.75 billion in revenue Emirates pulled in during the fiscal year through the end of March 2016.
Emirates’ half-year profit fell 75 percent to $214 million in the last period the airline has disclosed, through last September — before the U.S. election. Executives cited increased investments including aircraft purchases and the repayment of bonds, and said a “bleak” economic outlook in many parts of the world was reducing travel demand.
The cuts will reduce the number of U.S.-bound flights from Dubai to 101, down from the current 126.
Twice daily Emirates flights to Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle will fall to once a day. Daily flights to Fort Lauderdale will be pared to five per week.