The south runway at Dubai International Airport will close for 45 days in the spring of next year and airlines are preparing for the loss of runway time.

British Airways confirmed it will operate a larger A380 on the London Heathrow/Dubai route so the airline can continue to accommodate the same number of passengers.

“Like all airlines, we’re affected by the closure of one of the runways at Dubai Airport in spring 2019. In order to ensure we can carry as many customers as possible during this time, we plan to operate one of our flights using a larger A380 aircraft on this route,” a representative for the airline said via Arabian Business.

Emirates and FlyDubai have announced major changes ahead of the closure

Dubai airlines Emirates and Fly Dubai have to change their strategy for a seamless flight operations.

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And as it turns out, major changes in the flight schedules were announced by both the airlines on Thursday.

While Emirates will reduce its operating schedule and number of flights, FlyDubai would move some flights to DWC next year from April 16 to May 30, 2019.

Statement from Emirates

“Emirates can confirm that it will be required to reduce its operating schedule by approximately 28 per cent during this time.”

That means Emirates will cancel some flights, reduce the flights to some destinations and reschedule the remaining to adjust during the maintenance period.

FlyDubai, on the other hand would move some flights to Dubai’s second airport, Al Maktoum International (DWC) during the closure.

List of destinations for which flights will be diverted

Addis Ababa (ADD), Abha (AHB), Ahmedabad (AMD), Mumbai (BOM), Colombo (CMB), Cochin (COK), Delhi (DEL), Gassim (ELQ), Gizan (GIZ), Ha’il (HAS), Hyderabad (HYD), Isfahan (IFN), Karachi (KHI), Lucknow (LKO), Lar (LRR), Faisalabad (LYP), Chennai (MAA), Medinah (MED), Mashhad (MHD), Multan (MUX), Najaf (NJF), Riyadh (RUH), Istanbul (SAW), Sialkot (SKT), Shiraz (SYZ), Ta’if (TIF), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV), and Tabuk (TUU).

Flights to the following destinations will operate out of both DXB and DWC

Amman (AMM), Bahrain (BAH), Beirut (BEY), Dammam (DMM), Alexandria (HBE), Jeddah (JED), Kabul (KBL), Khartoum (KRT), Kuwait (KWI), and Muscat (MCT).