DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Long-haul airline Emirates said Thursday it would resume Boeing 777 flights to the United States, which it had halted amid a dispute over rolling out new 5G services there.
International carriers that rely on the roomy Boeing 777 and other Boeing aircraft on Wednesday canceled early morning flights or switched to other aircraft models after warnings from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aircraft manufacturer, based in Chicago, about possible interference with the signals of the new 5G wireless service around airports.
One of the most affected companies was Emirates, based in Dubai and which is crucial in the connections between East and West. The firm only uses the 777 and the double-deck Airbus A380.
The airline said it would resume its Boeing 777 flights to Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando and Seattle on Friday.
Flights to Boston, Houston and San Francisco, in which Emirates has used the Airbus A380 jumbo jet, will return to Boeing 777 aircraft from Saturday.
Tim Clark, president of Emirates, apologized in a statement to the airline’s customers for the incidents.
“Safety will always be our top priority and we will never play it safe on that course,” Clark said. “We celebrate the developments that allow us to resume crucial transportation ties to the United States to serve travelers and freight forwarders.”
“However, we are also well aware that this is a temporary postponement, and a long-term solution would be needed,” he added.
Similar mobile networks have been deployed in more than three dozen countries, but there are some important differences in the design of US networks that have raised concerns about potential problems for airlines.
Verizon and AT&T Networks use a frequency of the radio spectrum close to that used by radio altimeters, devices that measure aircraft altitude to help pilots land in poor visibility conditions. The Federal Communications Commission, which established a safety margin between the frequencies used by 5G and altimeters, says wireless service poses no risk to air traffic.
But FAA officials saw a potential problem, with telecommunications companies agreeing to defer deployment near more than 80 airports while the agency assesses which planes can safely fly near 5G networks and which will need new altimeters.
The FAA on Wednesday authorized more aircraft models to land in low-visibility conditions near 5G signals, including the Boeing 777.