The Transportation Department announced on Thursday that it has imposed a fine of $1.8 million on Middle Eastern airline Emirates for conducting flights in regions that are off-limits to U.S. airlines. This penalty was issued due to a 'significant number' of flights that took place between December 2021 and August 2022, passing over Iraq on routes between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
Emirates, based in the UAE, had previously been fined $400,000 in 2020 for similar violations and had committed to avoiding a repeat of such infractions. The airline had a code-sharing agreement with JetBlue Airways, allowing the New York-based carrier to sell seats on Emirates flights as part of its own offerings. This practice is permitted by the U.S. government as long as foreign airlines adhere to Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
The FAA had set a restriction for U.S. airlines, prohibiting them from flying over Iraq at altitudes lower than 32,000 feet for safety considerations. Emirates stated in a consent order that their flights were planned to maintain altitudes above 32,000 feet and only deviated from this when instructed by air traffic controllers.
As part of the consent order, $300,000 of the fine will be waived if Emirates complies with U.S. restrictions for a period of one year. The code-sharing partnership between Emirates and JetBlue was terminated in October 2022, shortly before Emirates entered into a similar agreement with United Airlines.
