Emirates Airline begins Dubai-Bangalore operations

Emirates Airline begins Dubai-Bangalore operations

The Hindu

BANGALORE: Emirates Airline, the wholly owned airline of Dubai Government, commenced operations between Dubai and Bangalore on Sunday.

Emirates added 2,000 seats and 120 tonnes of cargo per week with eight flights through the Bangalore operation.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates' senior vice-president-commercial operations (West Asia and Indian Ocean), told presspersons here on Monday that the Dubai-based airline's presence in India included 71 weekly flights to eight destinations, of which Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram commanded 39 flights.

Nearly 50 per cent more seats were added to India during the last one year with the sub-continent contributing over eight per cent to the total revenues of the airline and carrying 17 per cent of the total number of passengers. During 2005, global revenues of the Emirates was $ 6.6 billion and the airline carried a total of 14.5 million passengers.

It operates freighter services to Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. The airline has a fleet size of 99 aircraft and has ordered for 45 A380s from Airbus with the first delivery of the aircraft expected in August 2008.

Celebrating the start of its flights, Emirates launched its Bangalore-Dubai-Bangalore stopover deals. First, business and economy class passengers travelling between October 30 and February 2007 would receive a complimentary three, two and one night stay respectively at the Traders Hotel, Dubai.

It has also simplified visa procedure for passengers visiting or transiting through Dubai by launching the Dubai Visa Processing Centre.