Emirates expects busy summer as travel demand improves

Emirates Airlines is adding five new Airbus A380s to the summer flights schedule, as the carrier is expecting a busy summer season with full occupancy rates on several flights within its global network of destinations.

The Dubai-based airline said the A380 superjumbos will serve more routes over the summer holidays amid the continuing momentum in customer demand following the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions that devastated the aviation industry.

Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ chief commercial officer, told WAM that customer demand is still witnessing strong levels and it is expected that 2023 will be a year of robust recovery, exceeding the levels recorded during 2022.

Emirates is deploying a fleet of 85 A380s and this number is set to reach 95 in the summer peak season by the end of the financial year next March. The large wide-body airliner is serving 43 destinations in the carrier’s summer flights schedule.

Kazim said Emirates operates about 3080 departure flights per week or more than 440 flights per day for passengers within its global network.

The airline is planning to debut flights to five new cities including London, Christchurch, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. This is in addition to San Francisco (July 15), Singapore (June 1) and Houston (June 15).

Emirates, which relies on its vast global network and does not have any domestic routes, is considering adding more capacity to the North American market and other global markets such as China. The carrier also plans to deploy additional aircraft into service including the delivery of the first aircraft from its Airbus A350 order.

Emirates, Etihad cooperation

Meanwhile, Emirates and Etihad Airways recently agreed to expand their interline cooperation to boost tourism to the UAE from key source markets by allowing customers to experience more than one destination in a single itinerary.

The new agreement provides travellers planning to explore the UAE with the flexibility of one-stop ticketing for their full journey and convenient baggage check-in.

“This summer, customers of each airline will be able to purchase a single ticket to fly into either Dubai or Abu Dhabi, with a seamless return via the other airport,” Emirates said in a statement.

This first-of-its-kind agreement allows visitors to cover as much ground as possible when exploring Abu Dhabi, Dubai or any other emirate, saving time by removing the need to fly home via their airport of arrival.

The deal gives customers travelling into the UAE the option of ‘multi-city flights’, with the choice to travel from one city on both carriers’ networks and conveniently return to another point served by either.

“Emirates and Etihad are leveraging on our strengths to expand our respective customer offerings and boost UAE tourism,” said Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline.

“We believe this new agreement provides a strong foundation to develop further opportunities between both airlines and is an example of our commitment to the UAE’s vision for continued economic diversification.”

This is the second time the airlines have announced a collaboration. Emirates Group Security and Etihad Aviation Group signed an MoU to strengthen aviation security in 2018.

Last year, Emirates also signed an agreement with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi to boost tourist numbers to the UAE capital from key source markets across the airline’s global network.

Read: Travel to UAE on a single booking: Emirates, Etihad Airways strengthen cooperation