Emirates adds more flights to Phuket

Dubai-based Emirates has announced that it will add four more weekly flights to Phuket, significantly increasing capacity on the route.

The new flights will begin from December 1, 2015 and will increase capacity by 57 per cent, the airline said in a statement. All flights will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER.

The airline’s expansion comes as Phuket emerges as a popular tourist destination. The island received about six million visitors in the first five months of 2015, estimates suggest.

Emirates’ executive vice president and chief commercial officer Thierry Antinori said that Phuket has been a successful route ever since its launch in 2012.

The airline has been ramping up the number of flight offerings to Asia, an attractive market for passengers that Emirates connects from Europe and the US.

Earlier this month, Emirates inked a codeshare deal with Bangkok Airways in order to expand its network in Southeast Asia.

The deal will see Emirates add its code to 19 Bangkok Airways routes across Southeast Asian cities.

It will also add 14 more cities to the Dubai-owned carrier’s network, allowing it to connect passengers to new tourist destinations such as Koh Samui and Chiang Mai in Thailand, Siem Reap in Cambodia, and Yangon and Mandalay in Myanmar.

Bangkok Airways operates 31 routes to 24 Asian airports and will help connect Emirates passengers to 104 destinations in Asia Pacific.

In June, Emirates also started a new daily service to Bali in Indonesia, providing a significant boost to its network in the Asia Pacific region.

Emirates, which was launched in 1985, has flourished over the last decade as it capitalised on Dubai’s location and the emirate’s economic ambitions.

The airline has continued its growth by expanding its network, mainly through extensive codeshare deals with other regional airlines and by deploying aircraft such as A380 and Boeing 777-300ER on its existing routes.