Emirates to again fly to US amid 5G dispute

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Longhaul carrier Emirates said Thursday it will resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S. after halting its use of the aircraft there over concerns new 5G services in America could interfere with airplane technology that measures altitude.

International carriers that rely on the wide-body Boeing 777 and similar planes canceled early flights or switched to different planes Wednesday after warnings from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Chicago-based plane maker over possible interference with radio altimeters.

The FAA gave approval late Wednesday for more types of planes to land in low visibility near 5G signals, including the Boeing 777.

Among the most-affected airlines by the FAA decision was Dubai-based Emirates, a crucial East-West travel airline that flies only the 777 and the double-decker Airbus A380.

Emirates said its Boeing 777 service to Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, N.J., Orlando, Fla., and Seattle would resume Friday.

Flights to Boston, Houston and San Francisco, which saw Emirates deploy its Airbus A380 jumbo jet, will resume Boeing 777 flights Saturday.

Tim Clark, Emirates president, apologized in a statement to the airline’s customers for the disruption.

“Safety will always be our top priority, and we will never gamble on this front,” Clark said.

However, he added: “We are also very aware that this is a temporary reprieve, and a long-term resolution would be required.”

That refers to Verizon and AT&T only temporarily reducing the rollout of 5G near dozens of airports as the FAA assesses which aircraft are safe to fly near the new 5G frequencies and which will need new altimeters.

Similar 5G mobile networks have been deployed in more than three dozen countries, but there are key differences in how the U.S. networks are designed that raised concern of potential problems for airlines.