Major international carrier Emirates is to launch a daily route from London Stansted, becoming the first Middle Eastern airline to operate from the fast-growing airport.
The new service, starting on June 8, 2018, will provide a link to the Dubai-based airline’s main hub which offers onward flights to key business destinations including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai as well as popular leisure destinations such as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Bali and the Indian Ocean islands.
Emirates describes the launch at Stansted as “a strategic decision” to serve the business community in London’s north east and the wider 7.5m population within its catchment area.
Laurie Berryman, Emirates vice president, UK, said: “The introduction of the new London Stansted-Dubai route not only signifies 10 daily flights between Dubai and three different London Airports but is also welcome news to businesses based in the Stansted catchment area who, before now, travelled to central London to fly to airports with global reach.”
London Stansted chief executive Ken O’Toole added: “At this crucial time, the new Emirates services will provide an important boost to the UK economy by strengthening international connectivity and offering greater choice and convenience for passengers travelling to long haul destinations.”
The Stansted-Dubai route will be operated by three-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, offering six seats in First Class (including fully-enclosed private suites), 42 in Business Class and 306 in Economy Class.
Outbound flight EK33 will depart Dubai at 09.30 and will arrive in London Stansted at 14.10 with return flight EK34 departing Stansted at 21.10 and arriving in Dubai at 07.05 the following day.
Stansted will be the seventh UK airport from which Emirates operates, joining London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow.
It will also be important for Emirates’ freight division, SkyCargo, the world’s largest international cargo airline, due to its large cargo handling capabilities. The carrier connects cargo customers to more than 154 cities across 84 countries in six continents and flies 140,000 tonnes of cargo in and out of the UK in an average year.
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