Emirates ramps up preparations for Dubai-Prague bridge

Emirates already carries travellers to and from the Czech Republic on its flights to Vienna, Frankfurt and Munich. The new service, starting 1st July, will be served by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, offering 27 seats in Business Class and 251 in Economy.

Yesterday, senior representatives from Emirates met the media at Prague's Zofin Palace. Among those present were Richard Vaughan, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide; Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation; Brian LaBelle, Senior Vice President, Skywards; Peter Sedgley, Senior Vice President, Emirates Cargo (Commercial Ops) and Martin Gross Emirates' Manager, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic & Slovakia.

Also joining at the media event were Dita Schautova, Deputy Minister, Czech Ministry of Transport and Jiri Pos, Senior Executive Director for Aviation Business and Operation, Prague Airport.

Mr Vaughan said: "We are very pleased to be here in Prague just six weeks out from the launch of our new service to Dubai. Prague is one of six new routes Emirates has announced so far for 2010. Not only is this a new route, but for us, it is a new part of Europe. We have been keen to fly to the Czech Republic for some time and we feel the daily service will bring immediate benefits to the Czech economy in terms of jobs, trade and tourism."

Mrs. Schautova, Deputy Minister said, "I am proud that Prague has become a destination of Emirates, one of the leading air carriers in the world. In light of the slowly fading global financial and economic crisis that significantly hit the civil aviation industry, I would like to applaud the brave move by Emirates in expanding its network. This new route will contribute to the improvement of not only the direct air connection between the Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates, but to the development of political, economical and cultural ties between both countries."

Jiri Pos, Senior Executive Director for Aviation Business and Operation, Prague Airport, said: "We count the start of operations of a Prague - Dubai connection by Emirates Airline as a big success. It'll mean not only new capacity between Prague and Dubai, but the opening of a new network of connections flown by Emirates, particularly to Southeast Asia, India and Africa. The connection will also strengthen Prague Airport's position as the gateway to Eastern and Central Europe."

Last night, more than 500 guests from across Prague's business community converged on Zofin Palace for a high-profile road show event to introduce the airline and Dubai.

Heading up the entertainment were Czech legends Dara Rolins and Miro Zbirka, while guests were welcomed by the Prague Castle Guards & Police Brass Band Orchestra, along with Jazz Efterrat.

Mr Vaughan added: "We're off to a promising start with bookings both from Prague to Dubai and in the other direction and we expect booking activity to strengthen as the weeks go by. Of course, activities such as our fabulous road show event will help raise awareness and drive bookings. We already know that Dubai is one of the top Middle East destinations for travellers out of the Czech Republic, while Japan, South Korea, Thailand and China are popular in Asia. These are trends we expect to build upon with the help of our six-continent route network."

The airline is currently setting up offices in Prague, and once fully established, the total number of Czech employees across the Emirates Group will rise to more than 100. Many of those are cabin crew supporting the airline's 139-strong fleet of passenger aircraft serving 102 destinations in 62 countries.

Trade between the UAE and the Czech Republic has climbed from less than $26m (Dhs95m) in 1993 to 678 million (Dhs2.4bn) in 2008, according to figures from the Czech Foreign Ministry. Much of the exports to the UAE are glass products, including the Czech produced and world-renowned Bohemian glass.

John Felix, Senior Vice President, Emirates Holidays, said: ''The Czech Republic presents an exciting new opportunity for Emirates Holidays to add on to a wide choice of holiday destinations it has on offer. Emirates Holidays will certainly complement this latest Emirates destination with a range of quality and tailor made leisure options available to its customers."

From 1st July, EK 140 departs from Prague at 1620hrs and gets into Dubai at 0010hrs the following day. EK 139 will leave Dubai at 1030hrs and arrive in Prague at 1450hrs. The flight time is around six hours.

Prague is one of six new routes to be announced by the airline so far this year. The others are Tokyo, which launched 28th March, Amsterdam, effective 1st May, Baghdad, commencing 1st of July and Madrid which kicks off 1st August and then Dakar from 1st September.