Emirates Spools Up

Emirates is recommencing flights to an additional ten cities shortly as well as increasing frequencies to those destinations it currently serves.

Now that the United Arab Emirates has eased restrictions on transit passengers through its airports—including of course Dubai—Emirates can begin connecting passengers globally. It’s opening air bridges to Europe to avoid mandatory quarantine periods.

©Teahub.io

Colombo, Sialkot in Pakistan, and Istanbul will be added before the end of June, Auckland, Brussels, Beirut, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh from 1^st July and Barcelona and Washington D.C. after 15^th July.

Additional frequencies are being added to several major destinations including London, Paris, New York, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.

While the total of all destinations is just a quarter of those served by the airline before the coronavirus pandemic, it does indicate Emirates and, by extension, the commercial aviation industry is making a comeback. However, Emirates has said it doesn’t expect a full recovery until 2024.

For a broader perspective on the current state of affairs, please take a look at our previous article.

Emirates has the largest A380 fleet. ©Flickr

The flights to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Vietnam are strange in that inbound to those countries the aircraft will be empty—these and many other countries have no wish to import another bout of infection, but are happy for those who wish to leave to do so. Emirates hopes that those outbound flights will be full (and might they be tempted to charge a premium?). Those restrictions, therefore, preclude leisure travel.

Like every other carrier around the world, Emirates is struggling with the consequences of the pandemic as they lay off employees, mothball aircraft, and reconsider future orders. Still, this news indicates commercial aviation is emerging from an enforced hibernation.