Ground Emirates flight, lawmakers urge US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has been urged to ground an Emirates flight, which could grant the airliner billions of dollars in state subsidies.

Bipartisan members representing New Jersey and New York wrote a letter to the White House this week calling for cancellation of an Emirates flight, set to be launched between the US and Greece, the Hill reported on Wednesday.

The congressmen argued that it is not fair for American airliners to have to compete with the Emirates or other Persian Gulf carriers that get massive foreign subsidies.

So as to renegotiate a “meaningful resolution,” Trump should delay the new roundtrip Emirates flight between Newark, New Jersey, and Athens, Greece, scheduled to start on Sunday.

"Foreign governments that violate their agreements with the United States need to be held accountable," read the letter. "Like you, we believe that our trade agreements must be enforced so that foreign governments understand that they can't break the rules."

The new president has previously acknowledged that American airlines are "under pressure from foreign elements and foreign carriers."

"At the same time, we want to make life good for them also,” Trump said during a meeting with airline executives at the White House last month. “They come with big investments."

United Airlines employees and unions, meanwhile, were preparing to hold a protest at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday to voice frustration over state-owned airlines and how they threaten jobs in the United States.