Emirates Airline adding 31 flights a week to India

Emirates Airline, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is adding 31 flights a week to India in two phases – from November 2008 and again from February 1, 2009.

Once the new flights are added, the number of weekly flights that Emirates Airline operates to 10 destinations in India will go up to 163. Emirates had added 18 new flights to India in July 2008.

India’s key cities Mumbai and New Delhi will be the main beneficiaries of Emirates Airline’s expansion plan.

Emirates Airline will use a mix of Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777 aircraft for the additional services.

Already, Emirates Airline has the distinction of being the biggest international airline operating in India. The United Arab Emirates is home to nearly 1.5 million expatriate Indians.

Emirates Airline, commonly known as Emirates, is a subsidiary of the Emirates Group based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh largest airline in the world in terms of international passengers carried, and th tenth largest airline in terms of scheduled international freight tonne-kilometres flown.

Salem Obaidalla, Emirates Airline’s senior vice-president for commercial operations in West Asia, Indian Ocean and Africa, was quoted by the website gulfnews.com as saying: “Owing to the liberalisation of the Indian skies and growing demand for air travel, Emirates is extending its presence in India. Our winter expansion – the single largest growth in our operations – closely follows the extension of services in the summer of 2008, and represents our commitment to the market and our confidence in its potential.”

“The expansion,” Obaidalla added, “will be implemented in a phased manner and the key cities of Mumbai and New Delhi will be the main beneficiaries. Other important commercial hubs, including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, will also be served with additional flights. The additional frequencies have been timed to offer passengers more consistent schedules and seamless connections to onward points in Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.”

From February 1, 2009, Emirates Airline’s flights will depart for Mumbai 35 times a week, and the cargo capacity will rise to 641 tonnes a week.

After the expansion, the weekly frequency of flights to New Delhi, the capital of India, will go up to 25 flights a week. At present, Emirates operates 18 weekly flights to New Delhi.

Five additional flights will be added to the Dubai-Bangalore route between November 2008 and February 2009, bringing the number of flights to 20 a week. “Emirates will also provide significant thrust to cargo movements from Bangalore which exports electronic hardware, engineering goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fruits, vegetables, and readymade garments to the Persian Gulf countries, Africa, Europe and America,” Emirates said in a statement.

Four more flights will be added on the Chennai-Dubai route immediately, the statement said, bringing the number of flights on the Chennai-Dubai route a week to 19.

Two additional flights will depart to Kochi, the commercial hub of Kerala, immediately and another two more flights will be added in February 2009.

From Dubai, Emirates will start three new flights to Hyderabad immediately and one more flight will be introduced in December 2008, the statement from the airline said.