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| Sunday, 9 February 2003 |
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Airline plans massive expansion Emirates, the award-winning Dubai-based international airline, has unveiled massive expansion plans. This year it will add 11 new aircraft to its fleet and increase seating capacity by 25 per cent, allowing it to start four new routes, add more flights on many current routes and launch new inflight services and products. Daily non-stop Emirates flights from Dubai to Sydney start from October 26 with the delivery of a brand new aircraft, the long-range Airbus A340-500. The same day, Emirates will launch daily wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 services to Brisbane via Singapore, giving its fourth Australian route after Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman said it plans to start services to Moscow from July 1, to Shanghai from August 2 and to Lagos (subject to government approval) from December 1. Next year it will launch services to North America. Airbus A340-500s will start non-stop flights to New York from April 1, 2004 and to San Francisco from summer 2004. From this autumn, the first A340-500s will also serve Osaka, Japan four times a week and will allow Emirates to serve London Gatwick three times a day. For the past three years, Emirates has been working on a secret project to develop 'revolutionary' new First Class seats. "They will re-benchmark industry standards, appearing on Emirates' A340-500s from September," the company said. Business Class seats on these aircraft will also be improved, and inflight entertainment in every cabin on the A340-500 will undergo a major upgrade. In a total revision of its current timetable, Emirates will start double daily services from Dubai to Munich from March 31, to Tehran from May 1, to Manchester from June 1, to Muscat from July 1 and to Hong Kong from October 26. Among many other frequency increases are three extra flights to Nairobi, Kenya from March 30, bringing the total to 10 a week and rising to double-daily by July 1. Many other destinations will also enjoy extra flights. Sheikh Ahmed said: "We will have a fleet of 56 aircraft by March 31, 2004, Emirates terminal at Dubai International Airport opens in 2005 and the first of our 22 double-decker A380s arrives in 2006.." Emirates, founded in 1985, is now among the world's six most profitable and 20 largest international airlines. Meanwhile, the airline also launched non-stop cargo services twice-weekly to and from Dubai to China. Sheikh Ahmed said that so much freight is now moving between Shanghai and Dubai that Emirates may soon add a third freighter frequency. Cargo brings Emirates 17.5 per cent of its revenue. |
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