05 August, 2014

Emirates Halts Flights In Wake of Ebola

Emirates Airlines has responded to the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa by halting its flights to the infected region. The Dubai based airline is the first major international airline from outside Africa to impose a flight ban in response to the outbreak, suspended services to Guinea. So far this latest outbreak of Ebola has killed 730 people in four countries and shows little sign of easing. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described this as by far the worst outbreak ever recorded in the disease’s four-decade history. It originated in Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.  A further case had been reported after a man flew to Lagos, Nigeria, sparking fears the disease would be spread further by international air travel.

Emirates said its flights to Conakry, the capital of Guinea, were suspended from Saturday until further notice.  “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers, however the safety of our passengers and crew is of the highest priority and will not be compromised,” a statement read.

The airline, which does not operate services to Sierra Leone or Liberia, said it would continue to provide flights to Dakar in Senegal. It said further decisions on West Africa would be “guided by the advice and updates from the government and international health authorities”.

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