Hans Haensel, divisional senior vice president, Destination & Leisure Management at Emirates Holidays.
The backlog of stranded passengers stuck in Europe due to the ash cloud will take many days to clear, says Emirates Holidays.
The tour operator currently has several hundred of its passengers stranded in the UK and Europe unable to get back home due to an ongoing flight ban.
“There will be a backlog, we cannot guarantee that passengers will be able to go on the first available flight, but within three or four days we should be able to get them back wherever they are coming from,” said Hans Haensel, divisional senior vice president, Destination & Leisure Management at Emirates Holidays.
| Advertisement |
“We are not just talking about clients here from Dubai or the UAE," he added. "We are talking about clients from other GCC markets and other countries south of Dubai where Emirates Holidays is active in selling packages. So just for Emirates Holidays I would say four days to clear the backlog – it's not a brilliant situation.”
Haensel estimated that the flight ban over Europe would lead to a loss of revenue for Emirates Holidays of around AED 7 million.
“We are losing revenue every day. This you cannot compare to anything - it’s the worst scenario I think the aviation industry has faced so far, its far beyond what we faced at 9/11 and I’m over 40 years in this business I have never seen anything like it,” he added.
Airports in Europe are re-opening today after five days of flight ban caused by the spread of volcanic ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
