UAE residents on waiting lists for UK flights as prices stay sky high

Residents looking to fly to the UK from the UAE this autumn said limited availability of flights and rising airfares were forcing them to think twice about travelling.

Travellers told The National they were put on waiting lists for flights on Emirates this month as seats in some classes were fully booked.

Travel experts said rising airfares on the route were a culmination of passenger demand, fuel costs, and earlier imposed passenger restrictions at Heathrow Airport, which limited capacity for airlines.

While availability for midweek economy flights direct to London airports from Dubai on Emirates remained relatively easy to come by for September, weekend slots are few and far between.

A quick browse on the airline's website showed that availability to fly economy on a Friday or Saturday was limited, despite the airline operating nine flights per week to the city. These include flights six times daily to Heathrow, two to Gatwick and one to London Stansted.

Prices are also up, with the cheapest weekend ticket in September costing about Dh4,350 ($1,184) for a return journey. This is about Dh1,000 more than the average price before the summer travel peak.

On days where only business and first class tickets are available, prices will set passengers back upwards of Dh15,000. They rise to the mid-20,000s for some flights.

Emirates said it would temporarily operate a third daily flight to Gatwick from October 15-29 to serve market demand during the school midterm break.

British resident Mandip Dulay, who works in marketing in Dubai, has noticed a steep increase in the cost of flights to her home country.

“I have taken three flights in the past week out of Dubai, going to the UK, Saudi Arabia and Paris for business,” she said.

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