Emirates’ expansion reached new heights yesterday (October 1) with the launch of flights to Clark in the Philippines, a route between Milan and New York and a brand new A380 service to Brisbane – all on the same day in four different continents.
First to take off from Dubai airport at 4.40am was EK 338, a Boeing 777-200LR, bound for Clark International Airport (CIA). It was followed by EK 205, pushing back at 0905hrs for Milan where the Boeing 777-300ER stops before embarking on a brand new transatlantic connection to New York.
Then EK 434 followed when an A-380 left Dubai at 1025hrs going to Brisbane.
In a press statement, Emirates Airline president Tim Clark said they have connected two cities across the Atlantic and opened a second gateway to the Philippines after Manila.
“These multiple activities embody the scale of our growth, the increasing reach of our network and the role we play in connecting people, minds and cultures as Emirates navigates a path to becoming a top global lifestyle brand,” he said.
The airport in Clark in Pampanga is about 80kms north of the capital city. It has a catchment area of 17mn people and the region is poised to become a new tourism and commercial hub.
Emirates’ new flight to New York and Milan addresses an underserved transatlantic link between the two commercially vibrant cities, both in terms of non-stop flights and a premium product offering. After launching Warsaw, Algiers, Tokyo Haneda and Stockholm so far in 2013, the airline is preparing for the start of services to Conakry in Guinea, Sialkot in Pakistan, Kabul, Kiev, Taipei and Boston in the coming months.
Mohamed H Mattar, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president and Philippine ambassador Grace Relucio Princesa at the flight launch in Dubai.
