After 'Airmageddon' at Heathrow, Emirates reaches deal over airport capacity cut

London Heathrow Airport has asked airlines to stop selling tickets for summer travel (Image credit: HeathrowAirport/Twitter)

Emirates and Heathrow have reached an agreement under which the airline will cap further sales on its flights from the hub until mid-August but continue flying its regular schedule.

In a conciliatory joint statement, the two companies said that Emirates' president Tim Clark and Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye had held "a constructive meeting", with the Dubai-based airline agreeing that it was "ready and willing to work with the airport to remediate the situation over the next two weeks, to keep demand and capacity in balance and provide passengers with a smooth and reliable journey through Heathrow this summer".

"Emirates has capped further sales on its flights out of Heathrow until mid-August to assist Heathrow in its resource ramp-up, and is working to adjust capacity," the statement added.

"In the meantime, Emirates flights from Heathrow operate as scheduled and ticketed passengers may travel as booked," according to the release.

The Gulf carrier, on July 14, published a strongly worded statement condemning what it called the "entirely unreasonable and unacceptable" move by Heathrow, which Emirates said had given it just 36 hours to comply with capacity cuts. The airline also held the London-based airport for the 'airmageddon' situation.

Heathrow's capacity cap is due to remain in place until September 11, with CEO John Holland-Kaye stating that "By making this intervention now, our objective is to protect flights for the vast majority of passengers at Heathrow this summer and to give confidence that everyone who does travel through the airport will have a safe and reliable journey and arrive at their destination with their bags".

"The airport will still be busy, as we are trying to get as many people away as possible, and we ask you to bear with us if it takes a little longer to check in, go through security or collect your bag than you are used to at Heathrow," he added.

Emirates is owned by the emirate of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates.