Emirates Starting Stockholm Flights

Emirates will begin daily Dubai-Stockholm flights from September 4.

The service will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER with eight first class, 42 business class and 304 economy seats.

It marks Emirates’ second Scandinavian destination after Copenhagen, launched two years ago, and will provide the only scheduled direct passenger service between Dubai and Sweden – but it’s not the first service in the Gulf, as Qatar Airways has been flying to Stockholm since 2007, and Etihad serves the city in conjunction with partner Air France via Paris.

Trade between the UAE and Sweden reached more than US$896 million in 2012, an increase of 4.3 per cent on 2011. Emirates SkyCargo will offer 19 tonnes of cargo capacity between the two cities.

Emirates will be keen to funnel Swedish passengers into Dubai and onto its global network – and particularly Asian markets such as Thailand, a popular destination among Swedes, and one that the Dubai carrier serves with six flights a day.

News of Emirates’ expansion in Scandinavia could have competitive implications for loss-making SAS and the low-cost Norwegian Air Shuttle.