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FILE – An Emirates plane taxied to a gate at Dubai International Airport at Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 22, 2017. The U.S. Transportation Department said Thursday, June 13, 2024, that it has fined the Central airline East Emirates $1.8 million for flights in regions inaccessible to US airlines, while JetBlue Airways was able to sell seats on the planes. (AP Photo/Adam Schreck, file)
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The US Transportation Department said Thursday it has fined Emirates $1.5 million for operating flights using JetBlue Airways’ designator code in restricted airspace.
The department said Emirates operated a significant number of JetBlue Airways-coded flights between the United Arab Emirates and the United States between December 2021 and August 2022 in airspace prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration for U.S. airlines. This conduct also violated a consent order issued in October 2020 that fined Emirates for operating other flights in airspace under an FAA ban.
Emirates was ordered to pay $200,000 under the 2020 order and another $200,000 if it violated the order within a year.
An Emirates spokesperson said in a statement that the airline had planned to operate the flights at or above the restricted level, but air traffic control had not cleared the flight during the flight or instructed flights to fall below the restricted level. to operate.
“Our pilots duly followed ATC (air traffic control) instructions, a decision that is fully in line with international aviation regulations for safety reasons,” the report said. JetBlue, whose codeshare with Emirates ended in 2022, declined to comment.
The department said the flights in question crossed the Baghdad Flight Information Region below certain altitudes, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to ban all U.S. airlines, all U.S. commercial operators and codeshares from operating without special authorization. Emirates could face a further fine of $300,000 if it breaches the rules again within a year.
Emirates’ spokesperson said in the statement that the airline is no longer operating U.S. airline code flights over Iraqi airspace.
Emirates told USDOT that it prioritizes the safety of passengers, employees and other airspace users, adding that the flights in question were only operated below authorized levels “as a result of direct instructions from the relevant air traffic controllers” and in some cases to avoid a collision. .
Emirates argued that the pilots were “legally obliged to follow the instructions of the relevant air traffic controllers and that failure to comply with such instructions would have had significant safety implications,” the department said.
