Emirates in major network expansion to East and West

Emirates is embarking on a major expansion of its route   network with three additional destinations to be launched in the next six months, on top of the 12 new routes already being rolled out in 2012.

From 1 November, Emirates will launch four weekly flights to Adelaide, rising to a daily service from 1 February 2013. Adelaide will be the airline’s fifth destination in Australia which is currently served with 70 flights per week.

The airline’s current double-daily service to Perth will grow to 19 weekly flights from 1 December, becoming a triple daily operation from 1 March next year. On the western side of the globe, the French city of Lyon will be added to the Emirates’ network from 5 December, the carrier’s third point in France after Paris and Nice. Emirates will operate five weekly flights to this vibrant economic and tourism centre of south eastern France.

From 6 February 2013, Emirates will begin flights into Poland, where recently the World Bank predicted the highest economic growth in the Central and Eastern European region. The airline will operate a   daily service to the capital, Warsaw.

“Emirates is currently in a concentrated and sustained period of global expansion,” said Emirates Airline and Group Chairman and Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. “The addition of Adelaide to our network and the boost to our Perth operations demonstrates our commitment to investment and growth in our Australian operations and highlights the economic strength and global demand for the two cities as business, leisure and investment destinations. We will also grow capacity to Melbourne with the introduction of daily A380 services in October, in addition   to our existing double decker flight into Sydney.”

“Our increased operations into France, linking with Lyon, comes on the heels of our announcing a second A380 service into Paris from 1 January – all of which a response to acute demand for our services to and from this market. Poland continues our exciting push into this region of Europe,” Sheikh Ahmed   added.

Emirates, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, has already launched ten new destinations so far in   2012; Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Lusaka, Harare, Dallas, Seattle, Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona and Lisbon. Erbil follows on 12 August and Washington comes on board as of 12 September. At the same time, Emirates SkyCargo broadens its reach and support for the world’s importers and exporters by using belly-hold capacity aboard the passenger aircraft.

The airline currently has a fleet of 176 aircraft, including the world’s largest Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 fleet, to 124 destinations – supported globally by more than 60,000 staff.

Further expansion – timings and   aircraft:

Adelaide (four weekly flights beginning 1 November 2012)

EK 440 departs Dubai on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and   Sunday at 0155hrs and arrives in Adelaide at 2045hrs – using a Boeing 777-300ER in a three class configuration.   

Perth (five extra flights from 1 December 2012)   

EK 422 leaves Dubai at 2145hrs on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and lands in Perth at 1225hrs the next day – operated with a Boeing 777-300ER in a three class arrangement.

Lyon (five weekly flights from 5 December 2012)

EK 81 departs Dubai on a Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 1435hrs and arrives in Lyon at 1900hrs – using an Airbus A340-500   in three cabin classes.

Warsaw (daily flights from 6 February 2013)

EK 179 takes off daily from Dubai at 0730hrs and lands in Warsaw at 1045hrs – served by an Airbus A330-200 in a three-class configuration.