The FINANCIAL — Emirates on December 17 announced it will deploy its highly-popular A380 to even more destinations across its network in 2016 – reinforcing its commitment to provide an enhanced onboard experience for its passengers.
Birmingham (BHX), Prague (PRG) and Taipei (TPE) have been added to the growing list of Emirates A380 destinations, making Emirates the first and only airline to operate a scheduled A380 service from each of these destinations. Emirates’ daily Birmingham flight, EK39/40, will be up-gauged to an A380 beginning 27th March 2016. Emirates A380 services to Prague and Taiwan will start from 1st May 2016. Additionally, Barcelona will be served with a second daily Emirates A380 service from 1st June 2016, according to Emirates.
“The introduction and increase of Emirates’A380 services in these strategic destinations means more travellers will have the opportunity to experience our industry-leading A380 product,” said Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates.
“Our onboard innovations on the A380, across all classes, continue to impress and delight our customers. Deploying larger capacity aircraft, such as the A380, also helps us to efficiently meet growing passenger demand in these markets, contribute to tourism development and enhance customer choice and options,” Thierry Antinori added.
Flying the world’s largest fleet of A380 aircraft at 71, Emirates continues to set the pace for A380 deployment. Since Emirates launched is first A380 flight in 2008, the aircraft has flown over 42 million passengers, covering more than 630 million kilometres.
Emirates’ inaugural A380 flight to Birmingham, EK39 will depart Dubai at 07:35hrs and arrive at 12:20hrs and will be operated in a two-class configuration. EK40 will depart Birmingham at 14:20hrs and arrive in Dubai at 00:35hrs (+1). The addition of an A380 on this route follows the recent introduction of Emirates’ third daily flight to Birmingham, as well as the airline’s milestone 15th year of operations to the city being celebrated this week.
The daily Emirates Dubai-Prague route, operating as EK139, will depart Dubai at 09:05hrs and arrive in Prague at 13:30hrs. The return leg, operating as EK140, will depart Prague at 15:40hrs and arrive in Dubai at 23:35hrs. The A380 route will be operated in a three-class configuration, representing a 44 per cent increase in capacity.
In Taiwan, Emirates will up-gauge its service to a two-class A380 service, representing a 44 per cent increase in capacity. Emirates flight EK366 will depart Dubai at 04:35hrs and arrive in Taipei at 16:50hrs the same day. The return flight EK367 will leave Taipei at 23:30hrs, arriving in Dubai at 05:05hrs the next day. Taipei Taoyuan International Airport recently completed enhancements making it compatible with the double-decker aircraft.
Barcelona will be served twice daily with an Emirates A380 service, in a three-class configuration. From 1st June 2016, the second A380 service flight EK187 will depart Dubai at 15:45hrs and arrives in Barcelona at 20:55, while the return leg, EK188 departs Barcelona at 22:40hrs and arrives in Dubai at 07:25hrs the next day. The first A380 service to Barcelona was launched on 1st February 2014.
On a three-class configured Emirates A380, there are up to 429 seats in Economy Class, 76 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 14 Private Suites in First Class where passengers also have access to the world’s only onboard Shower Spas. First Class and Business Class passengers can also socialise at 40,000 feet at the Onboard Lounge. Emirates’ two-class configured A380 features 58 flat-bed seats and the Onboard Lounge in Business Class, and 557 spacious seats in Economy Class.
Passengers in all classes can enjoy access to over 2,000 channels of films, TV shows, music and games through ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, as well as free Wi-Fi and gourmet cuisine.
There are currently 36 A380 destinations on the Emirates network, setting the industry benchmark for both A380 connectivity and customer experience.
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