Dubai International Airport’s southern runway will close from April 16 to May 30. Here’s how that may affect you…

Dubai International Airport (DXB) will close its southern runway from April 16 to May 30 this year while it undergoes extensive upgrade work.

As only one runway – the northern runway – will be in use during this time, airlines will have to scale back their operations at DXB. And ahead of the closures, Dubai airline Emirates has confirmed that many of its flights will be cancelled or rescheduled.

The airline said that up to 48 Emirates aircrafts will not be utilised, with a 25 per cent reduction in the overall number of flights operated by the airline during the 45-day period.

The currently twice daily flight from Dubai to Glasgow, Scotland will be reduced to a daily flight from April 16 to May 31, though the Boeing 777-300ER service will be replaced by the double decker Emirates A380.

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Several flights will also be permanently cancelled in line with their adjusted flight schedule for 2019, with Emirates suspending flights EK 418/419 between Bangkok and Sydney from June 1, and EK 424/425 from March 31, serving Perth with a once daily Airbus A380 service non-stop from Dubai.

The airline carrier also announced increased flights to a number of destinations around the world, mainly in Africa and Europe, for 2019.

Over the summer season, a second flights will be added on the Dubai to Athens, Greece route from March 31 to October 26, although this will not operate during the runway closure. A third flight will be added to the Dubai to Rome, Italy route, but again will not operate while the Southern runway is closed.

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