Emirates Air faced "tough year" as virus looms over travel

The chairman of the Middle East’s largest airlines says its passenger levels plummeted by 70% last year due to the coronavirus pandemic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Passenger levels for the Middle East's largest airlines plummeted by 70% last year and it furloughed more than a quarter of its staff due to the coronavirus pandemic, Emirates' chairman and chief executive said Monday. Despite the turbulence of last year and the continued uncertainty around global travel, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said he expects passenger levels for Dubai's flagship carrier to climb back to nearly three-fourths of what they were before the COVID-19 outbreak by the end of the year. “It’s been a very tough year,” Al Maktoum said. “Our focus today is more on really putting back Emirates on the map the way it used to be." Al Maktoum acknowledged, though, it's been difficult to get approvals and wade through the myriad of regulations and other health authority rules of every country.