Emirates to grow services to Milan with introduction of A380

Saturday, 18 October 2014 02:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Emirates, a global connector of people and economies, will grow its services to and from Milan with the upgrade of one of its daily Boeing 777-300 services to an A380 from 1 December. This will be the first ever permanently scheduled A380 service to Milan Malpensa Airport. Bringing the A380 onto one of Emirates’ three daily Milan services will mean an increase in capacity of almost 38%. The triple-daily service connecting Dubai to Milan is currently operated with a mix of Boeing 777-300 and 777-300ER aircraft. One of these services continues onward to New York.

On the Dubai-Milan route, the aircraft is arranged in a three-class configuration with a combination of 399 and 427 seats in Economy Class, 76 fully lie flat beds in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites. Passengers across all cabins can enjoy more than 1,800 channels of ice, Emirates’ award-winning Digital Widescreen inflight entertainment system. They can also stay connected to their family and friends through their favourite social networks courtesy of high speed Wi-Fi access. Each Emirates’ A380 offers an Onboard Lounge on the upper deck for Premium Class passengers to meet, relax and do business, while enjoying light canapés and delicacies as they mingle. First Class passengers have the added luxury of two Onboard Shower Spas to refresh before landing. The A380 service will operate daily as EK 91, departing Dubai at 1540 hrs and arriving at Milan Malpensa airport at 1935 hrs. The return flight, EK 92, departs Milan at 2120 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0625 hrs the next day. Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Thierry Antinori said: “Introducing the Emirates flagship A380 service underscores our commitment to further developing the economic and tourism potential of Italy’s regions and cities. We continue to support the Lombardy region as well as the Italian economy primarily by bringing in tourists and business travellers from both mature and emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. These regions are known for their demographic growth and economic diversity. With Milan Expo 2015 closely approaching, over 20 million visitors are expected to visit the city and more than 3 million visitors will travel to Milan from international destinations, and we are well placed to cater to the upward demand within that period and beyond. The new Emirates A380 service will also enable travellers to enjoy unmatched comfort and quality in all classes on the world’s largest passenger aircraft.” Milan Expo 2015 will undoubtedly have a positive impact as an economic catalyst that will boost local and regional economies. In total, the economic value that Milan Expo 2015 will deliver to the city and surrounding region is expected to top € 34 billion. Over € 11.8 billion has already been invested in both urban and regional infrastructure to support Milan Expo 2015, and a further € 1.7 billion has been invested to construct the exhibition site in Milan (according to the Association of Enterprises of the Lombardy Region). Milan will hand Dubai the baton for Expo 2020, and the cities have signed an agreement for strategic cooperation on expo coordination. Dubai is also expected to make significant investments for Expo 2020.