Category Archives: Emirates Airline

Emirates ramps up global operations with restart of services to four destinations, going to twice-daily A380 flights to Mauritius

Emirates has announced it will ramp up its global operations with the restart of services to four destinations, including: Bali (May 1), London Stansted (August 1), Rio de Janeiro (November 2), and Buenos Aires (November 2).

The airline has also announced it will boost services to Nigeria, Mauritius and Singapore to serve market demand. In line with the easing of travel restrictions worldwide, Emirates continues to rebuild and expand its global network to meet travel demand.

Emirates returns to Bali, London Stansted, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires

Starting from May 1, 2022 Emirates will operate five weekly flights to Bali, utilising a two-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The airline will also scale up its operations from July 1, 2022 to serve the island destination with a daily service. With its spectacular mountains, picturesque beaches and cultural appeal, Bali is considered to be a world leading tourist destination.

Starting from August 1, 2022 Emirates will resume flight operations to London Stansted with five weekly flights, utilizing Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft fitted with the ‘Game Changer’ First Class product. From September 1, the airline will increase its services to offer a daily flight. By October 2022, the airline will be serving the UK with 110 weekly flights, including: six times daily to London Heathrow; double daily A380 service to Gatwick; three times daily to Manchester, including a double daily A380 service (starting October 1, 2022); double daily service to Birmingham; five weekly flights to Newcastle (with the fifth weekly flight starting from July 1, 2022); and a daily service to Glasgow.

Emirates will operate four weekly flights to Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro, on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from November 2, 2022 – offering customers from Argentina and Brazil direct connectivity to popular business and leisure destinations across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. From February 1 2023, Emirates will scale up its operations to a daily service, offering customers greater convenience, choice and flexibility while planning their travel.

Boosting operations to Nigeria, Mauritius and Singapore

Emirates is ramping up its services to Lagos with 11 weekly flights, starting from July 1, 2022. The airline will ramp up its operations to the Nigerian city to offer a double daily service starting from September 1, 2022 – taking the airline’s services to pre-pandemic levels. Emirates will also increase its services to Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, to offer 5 weekly flights starting May 1, 2022 and then a daily service from September 1, 2022.

In line with rising demand, the airline will be scaling up flights to Mauritius from daily to nine weekly flights between April 9, 2022 and the end of June 2022, and then moving up to double daily flights from July 2022. Emirates’ second daily flight will provide an important boost to tourism to the Indian Ocean destination which has now relaxed entry restrictions for travelers. Under the codeshare agreement with Air Mauritius, customers of both airlines can enjoy greater access and seamless connectivity to and from the island-nation.

The airline will also increase passenger services to Singapore from seven weekly flights, to 14 weekly flights, starting from June 23, 2022. The added service will meet the increased demand for travel, since the country safely reopened to international tourists and eased travel restrictions.

Fly better to more than 130 destinations with Emirates

With the resumption of services to four more destinations, Emirates’ extensive network will span to more than 130 destinations, across six continents. The airline continues to place top priority on safe travel with the implementation of comprehensive set of measures on the ground throughout all touchpoints and on board to provide its passengers with the highest safety and hygiene standards at every step of the journey. Customers traveling from Dubai can also take advantage of state of the art contactless technology to ease their journey through the airport.

Emirates also offers its customers an unmatched culinary experience in the skies with regionally inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award winning chefs complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages. Customers can sit back and relax with more than 5,000 channels of carefully curated global entertainment content featuring movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, games, audiobooks and more with ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system.

In other news, Emirates will be operating twice daily flights on its flagship A380 aircraft to Mauritius from July 1, 2022 to meet the increase in demand for travel to the island nation.

Emirates currently operates daily flights to Mauritius . In line with rising demand, the airline will be scaling up operations from daily to nine weekly flights between April 9,2022 and the end of June 2022 and then moving up to double daily flights from July 2022.

Emirates’ second daily flight will provide an important boost to tourism to the Indian Ocean destination which has now relaxed entry restrictions for travelers. The additional flight will also provide more choice in flight timings and seamless connectivity to customers from markets across Europe, Americas and the Middle East looking to travel to Mauritius to enjoy its sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and lush natural landscapes.

The Emirates A380 experience remains a customer favorite offering 14 First Class suites, 76 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 426 ergonomically designed seats in Economy Class. Customers traveling to and from Mauritius can once again look forward to enjoying the aircraft’s spacious and comfortable cabins and the unmissable signature products and services, including the iconic A380 Onboard Lounge and Shower Spa. Guests in all classes can enjoy regionally inspired cuisine designed by award winning chefs and non-stop entertainment on their flights with ice, Emirates’ award winning inflight entertainment system featuring a catalogue of over 4,500 channels featuring movies, music, TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, games and more.

Emirates marks 30 years of best-in-skies entertainment and connectivity

\In 1992, Emirates made the bold decision to install TV screens in all seats across all cabin classes throughout its fleet, a revolutionary move that shaped traveller expectations and the inflight entertainment industry in the decades to come.

Emirates has not looked back since, constantly introducing new innovations that drove advancements in entertainment and connectivity at 40,000 feet. Large, ultra-high definition 4k screens, with faster and improved Wi-Fi connectivity, are among the exciting developments Emirates has planned for its new generation IFE systems that will be delivered with its future fleet on order, as the airline continues to improve its inflight offering. Not only that, Emirates is constantly updating its extensive library of content on ice, with over 100 movies and 200 episodes of TV being added each month.

Emirates’ award-winning ice inflight entertainment system, originally launched in 2003 with 500 channels, today offers every passenger over 5,000 channels of on-demand movies, music, TV shows, box sets and documentaries, in over 40 languages. The total accumulated hours of entertainment includes over 3,900 hours of movies and TV, and over 3,300 hours of music and podcasts. An Emirates passenger would have to fly over 500 times from Dubai to Sydney in order to consume the entire library.

The success of Emirates’ IFE investments and strategy is demonstrated by the loyalty and positive feedback from its customers across all cabin classes, as well as through the numerous industry awards including ‘Best Inflight Entertainment’ at the 2022 APEX Passenger Choice Awards®, and ‘Skytrax World’s Best Inflight Entertainment’ every year since 2005.

In addition to entertainment, Emirates ice offers a range of other practical features, such as: the ability to check the status of your flight while en route; a real-time view of the sky during take-off and landing from cameras that are fixed on the aircraft’s nose, tail and underbelly; a helpful travel guide about Emirates’ hub Dubai; EmiratesRED; the world’s first inflight TV shopping channel; and a range of personal development content including LinkedIn Learning.

Emirates customers can browse the extensive range of content available on ice, create their very own playlist in The Emirates Mobile App, then sync it on board for a more personalised travel experience.

Emirates SkyCargo responds to growing global demand by reinstating dual hub operations in Dubai

Emirates SkyCargo has announced that it will be reactivating its cargo hub in Dubai South, Emirates SkyCentral DWC, for dedicated freighter aircraft operations from 26 March 2022.

The move will mark a return to dual hub cargo operations in Dubai for the air cargo carrier after a period of nearly two years. In April 2020, Emirates SkyCargo consolidated its freighter (main deck) and passenger (bellyhold) cargo operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB) in light of the suspension of passenger flights during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consolidation was aimed at streamlining and expediting the transport of essential supplies and medical items across the world.

With the growth of Emirates’ passenger network and operations, as well as the progressive increase in cargo volumes, Emirates SkyCargo will once again structure its operations across two hubs in Dubai- with Emirates SkyCentral DXB handling cargo arriving or departing on passenger aircraft and Emirates SkyCentral DWC handling cargo on freighter aircraft.

Emirates SkyCentral DWC was inaugurated in 2015 and has a total cargo capacity of more than 1 million tonnes per annum. The state of the art terminal features extensive cool chain handling facilities as well as a dedication pharma handling zone certified for EU GDP standards. Dedicated aircraft parking stands in close proximity to the terminal allow for rapid and efficient transportation of cargo.

A fleet of dedicated trucks operating on a 24-7 basis will provide seamless connectivity for cargo between the two airports. For high priority cargo and urgently required commodities, Emirates SkyCargo will be able to connection time of under five hours from wheels down at DXB to wheels up at DWC and vice-versa.

Emirates SkyCargo is the air freight division of Emirates, offering cargo capacity to customers on its fleet of all widebody Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft over a global network of more than 140 destinations across six continents.

Emirates SkyCentral DWC will be fully reactivated from 26 March 2022

Emirates sets June 23 for Tel Aviv launch

Emirates has confirmed that it will be commencing daily services to Tel Aviv from June 23, 2022. Emirates will operate its three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route, featuring eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class.

The first flight taking off on June 23 will operate as EK931, leaving at 15:50hrs, and arriving at Ben Gurion Airport at 18:00hrs local time. The return flight EK 932 will depart Tel Aviv at 19:55hrs, arriving in Dubai at 23:59hrs (local time). Flight schedules have been timed to provide convenient access to Dubai, and optimum connection opportunities to popular holiday destinations like Thailand, India, Philippines, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Emirates has an extensive Middle East network and currently flies to 12 cities across the region from Dubai.

Emirates and Garuda Indonesia launch codeshare partnership

Emirates and Garuda Indonesia have announced the launch of their codeshare partnership, with effect from March 9. The new partnership allows customers of the world’s largest international airline, based in Dubai, and Indonesia’s national carrier, to enjoy seamless connectivity on routes across the Americas, Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Under the new codeshare partnership forged, customers will be able to enjoy seamless connectivity on 16 routes, including popular European destinations, in addition to other travel benefits that will introduce additional levels of convenience.

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by both airlines in November of last year, regulatory approvals have been secured to operate routes that are included under the codeshare partnership.

Garuda Indonesia will place its code on routes operated by Emirates, between Jakarta and Dubai, in addition to onwards flights to Paris, London Heathrow, Manchester, Milan and Barcelona from Emirates’ hub.

Emirates will place its code on Garuda Indonesia operated flights on ten routes via two of its hubs, both Jakarta and Denpasar. Emirates passengers are able to travel to seven additional domestic points in Indonesia, beyond Jakarta and Bali, and enjoy the convenience of seamless booking, easy connections, one baggage policy and baggage-check through to the final destination. Domestic points which Emirates customers can travel to include Denpasar, Surabaya, Makassar, Balikpapan, Manado, Medan, Padang and Solo from Jakarta, while, from Denpasar, customers can fly to Jakarta, Surabaya and Makassar.

Emirates currently has codeshare cooperation agreements in place with 23 airline partners and two rail companies around the world. Additionally, Emirates also has interline cooperation agreements with over 115 airlines and rail companies. Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia currently has codeshare partnerships with more than 23 airline partners and 70 interline partners which offers Garuda Indonesia’s passengers connectivity to hundreds of destinations worldwide.

Emirates signs MOU with Maldivian to explore connectivity and other partnership opportunities

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maldivian, the national airline and leading domestic carrier in the Maldives, to explore codeshare, interline, and joint holiday package opportunities.

The two carriers are reviewing a codeshare agreement that will enable Emirates’ customers to conveniently book and connect from Male’ to more than 15 domestic destinations and the international destinations served by Maldivian.

Emirates and Maldivian will also explore opportunities to cooperate on their respective tour operating arms, to offer customers tailor-made packages including hotel stays at world class resorts and exclusive tours.

Emirates launched operations to the Maldives in 1987, and the airline currently serves the island-nation with 28 weekly flights, playing a vital role with supporting the country’s trade and tourism recovery. The airline was recently crowned as top carrier in the Maldives, connecting 265,000 passengers to the island-nation from top markets including, UAE, UK, US, Russia, and Germany.

Island Aviation Services Limited established in 2000 is wholly owned by the Government of Maldives and is based in the capital Male’. Maldivian also the national airline of the country operates inter-island services within the county as well as international services to India, Bangladesh Thailand and China from its main hub at Velana International Airport.

Emirates currently has codeshare agreements in place with 23 airline partners and two rail companies. The airline also has an interline agreement with over 115 airlines and rail companies.

Emirates has safely restarted operations to more than 120 destinations within its global network, via Dubai.

Maldivian aircraft slide show:

Maldivian aircraft photo gallery:

@MaldivianAero Airbus A321 during trial of the new runway to be used as a taxiway.

Starting today the new RWY will be used as a taxiway which would allow the RWY to accommodate 16 arrivals; which is double its current capacity.

Read more: https://t.co/iSmbx91dyb

Photo: MACL pic.twitter.com/B3c3axpDGZ

— AviatorsMaldives (@AviatorsMaldive) February 1, 2022

Emirates to return to Casablanca, signs agreement with Turespaña to promote Spanish tourism

Emirates will make a full return of passenger services to and from Casablanca from February 8, 2022.

The return of Casablanca in Morocco marks a full restoration of Emirates’ pre-pandemic African network including 21 cities spread across the continent. Customers flying to and from Casablanca can safely travel on Emirates to Dubai, and enjoy an array of onward connections to Europe, the Middle East and GCC, the Americas and West Asia.

Emirates will operate to Casablanca with daily flights using its modern Boeing 777-300ER. EK 751 will depart Dubai at 0730hrs, arriving in Casablanca at 1315hrs. EK 752 will depart Casablanca at 1505hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0130hrs the next day.

In other news, Emirates has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turespaña, Spanish Tourism Institute, to help boost trade and tourism to Spain.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group welcomed Her Excellency María Reyes Maroto Illera, Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, at the Emirates Group Headquarters.

The MoU was signed by Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President, International Affairs at Emirates and Miguel Ángel Sanz Castedo, Director General of Turespana. The ceremony was also attended by Juan Ignacio Diaz Bidart, Cabinet Chief to the Minister, Ministry of Industry; Iñigo de Palacio, Spanish Ambassador to the UAE; Andres Salinero, Trade and Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Spain; and Daniel Rosado Bayon, Director, Spain Tourism Office, Tourism Counsellor, Embassy of Spain.

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turespaña, Spanish Tourism Institute, to help boost trade and tourism to Spain. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group welcomed Her Excellency María Reyes Maroto Illera, Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, at the Emirates Group Headquarters.

Emirates restores flights to five African countries

Emirates will resume passenger operations between Dubai and five African countries starting from January 29, 2022, offering customers more choice, superior value and enhanced connectivity to and through Dubai.

The significant restoration of services will include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar El Salaam, Tanzania; Nairobi, Kenya; Harare, Zimbabwe; Emirates’ three South African gateways Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

Customers flying in and out of Emirates’ African gateways can safely connect to Dubai and to an array of onwards connections to Europe, Middle East, the Americas, West Asia and Australasia.

South Africa: Flights between Dubai and South Africa will operate as a daily flight to and from Johannesburg, effective January 29 and double daily services from February 1. Flights to and from Cape Town and Durban will operate daily from February 1.

o Emirates flight EK 761 departs Dubai at 0440hrs, arriving in Johannesburg at 1055hrs. EK 762 departs Johannesburg at 1325hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2345hrs. The second daily flight, EK 763, departs Dubai at 1005hrs, arriving in Johannesburg at 1630hrs. The return flight, EK 764, leaves Johannesburg at 1850hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0505hrs the next day.

o EK 772 from Dubai to Cape Town departs at 0355hrs, arriving in Cape Town at 1145hrs. EK 771 leaves Cape Town at 1825hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0555hrs the next day. EK 775 departs Dubai at 1035hrs, arriving in Durban at 1705hrs, and EK 776 takes off from Durban at 1900hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0515hrs the next day.

Kenya: Emirates will operate 10 weekly flights to Nairobi from January 29. EK 719 and 720 will operate on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, taking off from Dubai at 0935hrs and arriving in Nairobi at 1345hrs, in turn leaving Nairobi at 1530hrs, and landing in Dubai at 2130hrs. EK 721 and 722 will fly on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with EK 721 taking off from Dubai at 0210hrs, arriving in Nairobi at 0620hrs. EK 722 will leave Nairobi at 2355hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0555hrs.
Ethiopia: Emirates flights to Addis Ababa will operate daily from January 30, with EK 723 taking off from Dubai at 0925hrs, arriving in Addis Ababa at 1240hrs. EK 724 leaves Addis Ababa at 1505hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2015hrs.
Tanzania: Emirates will operate to Dar Es Salaam with five flights a week from January 30. EK 725 will take off from Dubai at 0930hrs, arriving in Dar Es Salaam at 1355hrs. EK 726 will leave Dar Es Salaam at 1525hrs, landing in Dubai at 2150hrs.
Zimbabwe: Emirates will operate to Harare with six weekly flights linked to its Lusaka service from January 30. EK 713 leaves Dubai at 0920 hrs, with a stop in Lusaka, and arrives in Harare at 1700hrs. EK 714 takes off from Harare at 1845hrs, stopping in Lusaka, and continuing on to Dubai to arrive at 0625hrs the next day.

All passengers traveling from Emirates’ African network with Dubai as their final destination require a 48 hour PCR test. Passengers must present a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility, and validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected. Upon arrival in Dubai, passengers will undergo an additional Covid-19 PCR test and remain in self quarantine until the results of the test are received.

Emirates does it again, scaling up and circling around the Burj Khalifa to put Expo 2020 Dubai on top of the world’s travel agenda

Emirates made this announcement:

Keeping with Dubai’s ‘nothing is impossible’ spirit, Emirates is soaring up and around the Burj Khalifa for another edition of its viral ad campaign, this time taking it one spectacular step further with the masterful addition of the iconic Expo 2020 Dubai A380. Emirates hit the global headlines and social media feeds of millions in August 2021 when it took its brand message to new heights atop the Burj Khalifa.

Photo: The brave stuntwoman is standing at the pinnacle of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar once again, holding up message boards with an invitation to visit the world’s greatest show, Expo 2020 Dubai, on the iconic Emirates A380.

This time, the brave stuntwoman is standing at the pinnacle of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar once again, holding up message boards with an invitation to visit the world’s greatest show, Expo 2020 Dubai, on the iconic Emirates A380. She then gestures to her ‘friend’, the eye- catching Emirates A380 wearing the Expo 2020 Dubai livery, which gracefully soars in the background as she stands firmly on the spire of the world’s tallest building. The ad also features dynamic aerial views of Dubai and its iconic skyline, and culminates in a flypast over the impressive Al Wasl dome at the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “Now at the halfway mark of its six-month run, the excitement and momentum around Expo 2020 Dubai remain strong. Our latest campaign boldly carries the Expo message and invites people to come and experience what is truly the world’s greatest show. There is nowhere else right now that offers the raft of attractions, top-class entertainment and music, riveting sports, vibrant country and themed pavilions, a thriving culinary scene and much more – all in one place. Dubai and the Expo are already top attractions and our aim is to give global travelers even more reasons to choose Emirates and Dubai for their upcoming winter and spring holidays.”

Photo: The Emirates Expo 2020 Dubai A380 gracefully soars in the background as the stuntwoman stands firmly on the spire of Burj Khalifa by Emaar.

While the ad looked like it was shot effortlessly, the whole project involved in-depth planning and meticulous execution involving stakeholders across Dubai’s aviation eco-system, with a strong focus on safety at every juncture when conducting the low flying manoeuvres.

The carefully choreographed flypast involved the A380 flying at a low altitude of only 2,700 feet, the exact height of Burj Khalifa by Emaar. The aircraft also flew at a very low speed of 145 knots. To put that into perspective, the average cruising speed of an A380 is around 480 knots. The low speed ensured the aircraft could efficiently and continuously circle around the Burj Khalifa and achieve a tight radius without drifting away. In total, the Emirates A380 circled the Burj Khalifa 11 times to get a right selection of shots for the ad.

The aircraft also appeared as if it was flying very close to the stuntwoman as she was standing on the Burj, when in fact it was over a half a mile away.

Photo: While the ad looked like it was shot effortlessly, the whole project involved in-depth planning and meticulous execution involving stakeholders across Dubai’s aviation eco-system, with a strong focus on safety.

During the planning stages, Emirates pilots, Flight Operation teams, Air Traffic Controllers, helicopter pilots, drone operators and the filming teams, the Emirates marketing team, the Emaar team, regulatory teams as well as the UAE GCAA and DCAA worked closely to discuss and deliberate every detail and aspect of the mission, choreographing the flight plan, running risk assessments, accounting for air traffic, areas over flown, as well as gauging potential wind and weather conditions in order to secure the necessary approvals. Pilots also trained multiple times in the A380 flight simulator to ensure every visual reference point was covered and tested and every manoeuvre checked prior to the mission. The simulator visits also helped establish the way all stakeholders would communicate during the flypasts and filming to ensure everyone was operating in a safe environment.

In addition, the team closely liaised with Dubai ATC to ensure that all activity was protected by blocking the airspace through a Temporary Restricted Area during all of its holding patterns.

The filming and low flypasts were conducted on 13 and 14 October 2021, and the timings of the flights were scheduled outside of the peak departures window at Dubai International as a further measure to mitigate any risk.

The new global multi-channel campaign will run in 12 languages, debuting across 19 countries covering TV, cinema, digital and social media platforms. The ad is part of a wider USD $20 million commitment Emirates has made to help create awareness, generate excitement and ultimately drive more visits to Dubai and Expo 2020 Dubai.

Since Dubai reopened for business and tourism in July 2020, the airline has run close to 15 major global and regional brand and tactical campaigns across 25 countries, starting with its ‘Dubai is Open’ campaign; its partnership with celebrity powerhouse Chris Hemsworth promoting Expo 2020 Dubai’s endless possibilities ahead of the event’s opening date; both its “Emirates crew on Burj Khalifa” ads and its latest winter campaign highlighting the plethora of activities Dubai has to offer for travellers seeking to escape the cold. The airline has also promoted Expo 2020 Dubai through a number of global tactical campaigns, including complimentary day passes for every ticket booked, earning Skywards Miles for time spent in Dubai during the Expo period, early bird discounts, family and SME offers, amongst other special promotions.

Running until 31 March 2022, Expo 2020 Dubai brings the world together, hosting spectacular events that have encouraged repeat visitation, as it provides a platform for collaboration, showcasing human advances and the latest in technology, culture, art music, gastronomy, sports and much more, in addition to over 190 country pavilions to see and experience.

Top Copyright Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (msn 147) (Be part of the magic – Dubai Expo) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 955584.

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Emirates aircraft photo gallery:

UAE regulator is investigating an aborted Emirates takeoff at Dubai airport

From Reuters:

“The United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation regulator has opened an investigation into an aborted takeoff by an Emirates airline passenger jet this month at Dubai Airport, the carrier said on Saturday.

It is the second inquiry launched into the airline in less than a month, after another passenger jet in December did not immediately increase its ascent after takeoff. The flight landed safely.”