Emirates announces-2009 expansion plan
FE Report | Friday, 27 February 2009
Emirates Airline recently unveiled plans to grow the number of flights across its network by 14 per cent in 2009, said a press release.
The Dubai-based carrier will add 18 new passenger aircrafts to its fleet, increasing seating capacity by 14 per cent and enabling it to start new routes as well as increase frequencies on many existing routes in the current year.
It will also expand cargo capacity by 17 per cent.
The additional frequencies will afford passengers a greater choice of flights, more frequent connections with their target markets and shorter, more convenient connection times.
Emirates currently has a fleet of 129 wide-bodied aircrafts. By the end of the fiscal 2008-09 (ending on March 31, 2009), that figure will stand at 132, including four super-jumbo Airbus A380s.
The carrier will welcome a further seven A380s in the fiscal 2009-10 (ending on March 31, 2010), as well as 10 Boeing 777-300ER, one 777-200LR and one Boeing 777 freighter.
Emirates Airline and Group Chairman and Chief Executive HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said: "The next year is not going to be an easy ride for the airline industry. Emirates has prepared the best we can for the challenges we foresee, but we also see it as a time of opportunity in 2009, with our significant capacity increase, will be a year of consolidation for us, with fewer new routes launched than in previous years".
"Instead, we will concentrate on strengthening our presence on routes where there is a greater demand from our customers. All of our new capacity will be deployed in markets where we see growth potential, particularly Africa and the Middle East."
Indeed, Emirates' fastest growing markets are Africa and the Middle East, recording 17 and six per cent growth respectively in the last 12 months. Emirates recently added a second daily flight to Lagos.
It will also introduce services from Dubai to Durban, South Africa on October 01, 2009. The route will be served by a two-class, 278-seat Airbus A330-200, which can carry up to 14 tonnes of cargo into the port city.
In the last month, Emirates announced a vast Middle East expansion plan taking the number of seats in the region to 50,000 on 180 flights a week. Additional services to Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Damascus were started recently.
Emirates has added 32 weekly flights to its existing Indian services since November.
The enhanced capacity means customers now have a choice of 163 weekly flights into 10 gateways in the country.
As new aircraft comes online, both Los Angeles and San Francisco -- Emirates' newest routes, launched in October and December -- will go from thrice weekly to daily from May. The extra services will add more than 2,000 seats a week between the US west coast and Dubai, which is more than a 100 per cent increase on the current 1,600 seats.
There is increased capacity to Australia with additional daily flights to Brisbane and Melbourne, taking the total number of flights a week to 63 effective from February 01. Later this year, a third daily service to Sydney will be added. On the date, Emirates became the first carrier to operate commercial A380 flights into New Zealand with the launch of its Dubai-Sydney-Auckland service. Operated by a 489-seat Airbus A380 three times a week, it will go daily from May 01.
The Dubai-based carrier will add 18 new passenger aircrafts to its fleet, increasing seating capacity by 14 per cent and enabling it to start new routes as well as increase frequencies on many existing routes in the current year.
It will also expand cargo capacity by 17 per cent.
The additional frequencies will afford passengers a greater choice of flights, more frequent connections with their target markets and shorter, more convenient connection times.
Emirates currently has a fleet of 129 wide-bodied aircrafts. By the end of the fiscal 2008-09 (ending on March 31, 2009), that figure will stand at 132, including four super-jumbo Airbus A380s.
The carrier will welcome a further seven A380s in the fiscal 2009-10 (ending on March 31, 2010), as well as 10 Boeing 777-300ER, one 777-200LR and one Boeing 777 freighter.
Emirates Airline and Group Chairman and Chief Executive HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said: "The next year is not going to be an easy ride for the airline industry. Emirates has prepared the best we can for the challenges we foresee, but we also see it as a time of opportunity in 2009, with our significant capacity increase, will be a year of consolidation for us, with fewer new routes launched than in previous years".
"Instead, we will concentrate on strengthening our presence on routes where there is a greater demand from our customers. All of our new capacity will be deployed in markets where we see growth potential, particularly Africa and the Middle East."
Indeed, Emirates' fastest growing markets are Africa and the Middle East, recording 17 and six per cent growth respectively in the last 12 months. Emirates recently added a second daily flight to Lagos.
It will also introduce services from Dubai to Durban, South Africa on October 01, 2009. The route will be served by a two-class, 278-seat Airbus A330-200, which can carry up to 14 tonnes of cargo into the port city.
In the last month, Emirates announced a vast Middle East expansion plan taking the number of seats in the region to 50,000 on 180 flights a week. Additional services to Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Damascus were started recently.
Emirates has added 32 weekly flights to its existing Indian services since November.
The enhanced capacity means customers now have a choice of 163 weekly flights into 10 gateways in the country.
As new aircraft comes online, both Los Angeles and San Francisco -- Emirates' newest routes, launched in October and December -- will go from thrice weekly to daily from May. The extra services will add more than 2,000 seats a week between the US west coast and Dubai, which is more than a 100 per cent increase on the current 1,600 seats.
There is increased capacity to Australia with additional daily flights to Brisbane and Melbourne, taking the total number of flights a week to 63 effective from February 01. Later this year, a third daily service to Sydney will be added. On the date, Emirates became the first carrier to operate commercial A380 flights into New Zealand with the launch of its Dubai-Sydney-Auckland service. Operated by a 489-seat Airbus A380 three times a week, it will go daily from May 01.