Sheikh Ahmed concludes successful trip to Brazil

Sheikh Ahmed was in Brazil to officially launch Emirates' non-stop service from Dubai to Sao Paulo. The launch of the service now means that Emirates flies non-stop to six continents from Dubai.

Sheikh Ahmed was accompanied to Brazil by a delegation from Emirates, including Tim Clark, Emirates' President; Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates' Executive Vice President for Commercial Operations Worldwide; Ali Mubarak Al Soori, Divisional Senior Vice President, Chairman's Office, Facilities, Projects Management and Procurement and Logistics (Non-Airline) and Ram Menon, Divisional Senior Vice President for Cargo. In Sao Paulo the delegation were joined by Nigel Page, Emirates' Senior Vice President, The Americas and Ralf Aasmann, Emirates' Country Manager in Brazil.

During his official visits Sheikh Ahmed was accompanied by His Excellency Yousef Ali Al-Usaimi, the UAE Ambassador to Brazil and His Excellency Flavio Moreira Sapha, the Brazilian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Ahmed arrived on Tuesday evening at Sao Paulo International Airport on EK261 non-stop from Dubai and was met by senior airport officials.

During their visit to South America, Sheikh Ahmed and his delegation travelled to Brasilia to meet with His Excellency Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil. In the evening Sheikh Ahmed hosted a glittering Gala dinner in Sao Paulo for over 600 guests to celebrate the launch of Emirates' South American service.

Sheikh Ahmed held an audience with the Brazilian media and spoke about what the launch of the service means to Emirates, saying: "We believe that this new service will benefit Brazil, not only from a tourism point of view but also by bringing in business from around the world, especially from the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

"Travellers from Sao Paulo and the surrounding areas now have a direct route to Dubai, which is the major centre for tourism and commerce in the Middle East.

"Through our network of 94 destinations in 60 countries, the people of Brazil can make use of our excellent connections to countries such as Lebanon, China, Japan and Australia."

Sheikh Ahmed also held talks with the Governor of Sao Paulo, José Serra, followed by a meeting with Gilberto Kassab, the Mayor of Sao Paulo.