Tag Archives: Emirates

Emirates has unveiled a brand new Business Class cabin and configuration on its Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, with new wider seats laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration for the first time. The airline has invested over US$150 million to refurbish the 10 existing 777-200LR aircraft in its fleet. The newly refurbished Emirates 777-200LR aircraft is set in a two-class configuration which offers 38 Business Class seats and 264 seats in Economy Class.  While the Business Class seats are in the same design and shape of Emirates’ latest lie-flat seats, they are now two inches wider for a more comfortable journey. The seats retain the champagne coloured finish and diamond stitch pattern on the full leather cover, and the ergonomically designed headrest revealed on Emirates’ newest Boeing 777 in November. The Business Class seat has a pitch of 72 inches and moves into a fully flat sleeping position.  It also has touchscreen controls for the seat and inflight entertainment system, several personal lighting options, privacy panels between seats, a shoe stowage area, footrest and a personal mini-bar. Luxury and comfort are at the heart of Emirates’ product refresh as overhead bins in centre of the cabin have been removed for an airier and more spacious feel on board. The cabin boasts electronic windows and the largest personal in-flight entertainment (IFE) screens in Business Class at 23 inches wide. The cabin also features the Ghaf tree – considered the national tree of the United Arab Emirates, and now a signature design on the latest Emirates aircraft.

Emirates will once again begin operations with its flagship A380 service between Houston (IAH) and Dubai (DXB) from June 1, 2018. Houston will join more than 40 destinations on Emirates’ extensive global network served by its popular A380 aircraft, including Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Kuwait. Emirates will deploy its three-class A380 on the Houston route, offering a total of  516 seats with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 flatbed seats in Business Class seats and 426 spacious seats in Economy Class, increasing capacity per flight by more than 160 passengers compared to the current Boeing 777-300ER. Services to Houston were upgraded to an A380 in December 2014, but as part of Emirates’ fleet optimisation, the decision was made in July 2016 to operate the route with a Boeing 777-300ER. Flight EK211 will depart Dubai at 09:35 and arrive in Houston at 16:50 daily. Return flight EK212 will depart Houston at 20:00 and arrive in Dubai at 20:00 the next day. Passengers from Houston can enjoy convenient connections in Dubai when travelling to destinations in India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or South Africa.

For the first time in Rafic Al Hariri International Airport’s history, Emirates will operate a special one-off A380 service to Beirut on March 29. The airline’s flagship double-decker will become the first-ever scheduled A380 service to Beirut. Emirates A380 will depart Dubai at 07:25hrs and arrive in Beirut at 10:30hrs. The flight will depart Beirut at 14:15hrs and arrive in Dubai at 19:05hrs on the same day. Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations, Centre at Emirates, said, “We are proud to fly our A380 for a one-off test service to Beirut. Bringing this popular aircraft to Lebanon represents a significant milestone in our operations to Beirut after 27 years of serving the country. This year also marks the Emirates A380’s 10th anniversary since joining our fleet, and the iconic aircraft has brought flying to the next level for over 90 million customers. We would like to thank the Lebanese government and in particular the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lebanese Civil Aviation Authorities, who have made it possible for us to bring our flagship A380 to this city.”

Emirates has launched its new service to Auckland via Bali from June 14, 2018. The new operations will offer global travellers a total of three daily services to New Zealand, complementing Emirates’ existing non-stop daily service between Dubai and Auckland. Emirates’ new Dubai-Bali-Auckland flight will provide the only year-round non-stop daily service between Auckland and Bali, giving passengers an opportunity to visit or stop over in one of the most popular islands in Indonesia. The airline will operate a 777-300ER on the route, offering eight seats in First, 42 seats in Business and 304 seats in Economy class, as well as 20 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity. Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline, said, “We are confident that our year-round service between Auckland and Bali will be well received by our customers, not only in New Zealand and Indonesia, but also from our global network particularly from markets like the UK, Europe and the Middle East.” The southbound flight, EK 450, will depart Dubai at 06:55, arriving at Denpasar (Bali) at 20:20 local time, before flying on to Auckland at 22:00, arriving in New Zealand’s biggest city at 10:00, the following day. Northbound, the new service will depart Auckland as flight EK 451 at the convenient time of 12:40, arriving in Denpasar at 17:55 local time. It will depart Denpasar at 19:50, arriving in Dubai just after midnight at 00:45.

Dubai Airports has joined Dubai’s aviation community in signing a pledge to purchase only ‘green vehicles’ in the future. The pledge was signed by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports; President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group, and representatives from Emirates airline, flydubai, dnata, Dubai Police, Dubai Customs and Dubai’s General Directory of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA). “This commitment is fully aligned with the Dubai government’s aggressive goals to reduce energy consumption by 30 per cent by 2030 as well as our sector’s strategy to limit our environmental footprint while continuing our significant contributions to Dubai’s employment and GDP,” said Al Maktoum. DXB is home to a fleet of over 6,345 ground service vehicles comprising various types ranging from water tankers to tow tractors to fork lifts operated by a number of companies that operate on the airfield including airlines, control authorities and ground handling services provider dnata. Of these DXB features a variety of green vehicles including BMW hybrid limousines for VIP services and RTA’s fleet of Tesla taxis but wants to scale up efforts to convert the fleet to top hybrid or electric models.

Emirates has launched a new, five times a week, service from Dubai to Santiago International Airport (SCL), via the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, starting July 5, 2018. The new service will see Emirates fly an additional five times a week to Sao Paulo, complementing the airline’s existing daily A380 flight between Dubai and Sao Paulo. In total, Emirates will now fly 12 times a week to Sao Paulo. Emirates’ Santiago flight will be a linked service with Sao Paulo, meaning that customers in South America can now travel between the two cities in unprecedented style and comfort. Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates, said “The start of our operations to Chile underlines our commitment to South America with our fourth destination on the continent and another five flights to Sao Paulo. We are pleased to add a destination that has been in strong demand from our customers and look forward to working with stakeholders in Chile to provide our unique product and service to passengers there.” The new route will be operated with a two-class configured Boeing 777-200LR which offers 38 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 264 seats in Economy Class.

Emirates is set to launch a new non-stop service between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Dubai from June 1, 2018, adding to its existing daily flight which operates with a stop in Athens, Greece. The new non-stop service will be operated with an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, offering eight suites in First Class, 42 seats in Business, 306 in Economy Class, and 19 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity. Flight EK223 will depart Dubai at 03:00 am and arrive in Newark at 09:00 am. The return flight EK224 departs Newark at 11:50 am, arriving in Dubai at 08: 20am on the following day. This new timing complements the existing Emirates service, as it provides travellers with a new option of a morning arrival in Newark, and a morning departure. Emirates’ non-stop service to Newark will offer travellers in northern New Jersey enhanced global connectivity, particularly those heading to Africa, the Far East and the Indian sub-continent. This is a boon for ethnic communities such as the nearly 700,000 Indian Americans residing in the greater New York area, who will have one-stop access to nine Indian cities on Emirates’ global network.

Emirates announced a US$ 16 billion (AED 58.7 billion) deal for 36 additional Airbus A380 aircraft, with 20 firm orders and 16 options. Emirates’ A380 fleet operates both GE and Rolls-Royce engines, and the airline is evaluating engine options for its latest A380 order. The additional Airbus A380s will be delivered to Emirates from 2020 onwards. Together with the airline’s 101-strong A380 fleet and its current order backlog for 41 aircraft, this new order brings Emirates’ commitment to the A380 programme to 178 aircraft, worth over US$ 60 billion. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, said, “This deal reflects Emirates’ confidence in shaping the future and its commitment to advancing Dubai’s vision to grow further as a world-class destination and aviation hub.” His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group signed the MOU with John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft at the airline’s headquarters in Dubai.

Emirates is set to resume its flights between Dubai and Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, starting June 8, 2018. The resumption of services on the route will allow customers two destination options when travelling to Istanbul. The flight will be operated five times a week by an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER in a three-class cabin configuration, with eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class. Together with Emirates’ other service to Istanbul, the airline will offer 16 flights, catering to both tourism and business traffic. The aircraft allows for an increase in cargo capacity to Istanbul, with a weekly total of 100 tonnes, making Emirates the only airline operating a scheduled service with a wide-body aircraft at Sabiha Gokcen Airport. Emirates flight EK119 will depart Dubai at 10:00hrs and arrive in Istanbul at 13:45hrs. The return flight EK120 will leave Istanbul at 15:35 hrs and arrive in Dubai at 21:00 hrs. The new timing allows customers from Istanbul to seamlessly connect to Emirates’ flights at Dubai International Airport to popular destinations like Bangkok, Shanghai, Seoul, and cities across Australia.

Emirates and flydubai announced their latest codeshare flights planned to Krakow in Poland from April 8 and Catania in Italy from June 13. The partnership initially began with codeshare flights to 29 cities, and this has quickly expanded to meet demand as customers realise the benefits of increased flight frequencies, expanded access to global destinations on a single ticket, and more. For bookings under the codeshare, Emirates passengers will receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in Business and Economy class. Under the partnership, passengers will benefit from a reduced minimum connection time of 120 minutes between Emirates’ home in Terminal 3 and flydubai’s in Terminal 2. Emirates Skywards members earn Skywards miles and Skywards Tier Miles on codeshare flights as per the existing Skywards programme. In addition to the Emirates free checked baggage allowance, Skywards Premium members can also enjoy their extra checked baggage allowances of 20 kg (Platinum members) 16 kg (Gold members) and 12 kg (Silver members) on codeshare flights operated by flydubai. Skywards Silver, Gold and Platinum members travelling on codeshare flights can access flydubai’s Business check-in counters and receive priority tags.