Emirates' first flight to Alexandria takes off

Emirates' senior managers Ghaith Al Ghaith, Executive Vice President Commercial Operations Worldwide and Nasser bin Kherbash, Senior Vice President Commercial Africa , travelled on the historic first flight.

Ghaith Al Ghaith said: "Alexandria, the second destination we are launching this month since Seoul on 1st May, is a fine example of Emirates' fast-paced growth. Our services will catalyse Alexandria's trade and tourism ties to Dubai and outwards to destinations across our network.

"As the second city in Egypt after Cairo, we also are happy to further serve the substantial Egyptian community residing in the UAE."

Emirates will fly daily non-stop flights to Alexandria's Borg Al Arab Airport (HBE). EK931 departs Dubai at 09:10hrs to reach Alexandria at 12:30hrs; the return flight EK932 leaves the city at 14:00hrs to reach Dubai at 19:00hrs. The airline is serving the route with its Airbus A310 aircraft in a two class configuration - 21 in Business and 177 in Economy.

Emirates currently is offering a range of introductory offers to Alexandria that include special fares, Skywards Bonus Miles and excess baggage allowance.

Founded by Alexander the Great and today a tourist magnet, Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt. It marks Emirates' 11th destination on the African continent after Cairo, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Nairobi, Tripoli, Lagos and Accra.

Emirates Holidays' World of Choice brochure features the Egyptian getaways of Cairo, Luxor and Sharm El Shaikh - all extremely popular tourist haunts among the airline's travellers.

Launched in 1986, the second year of the airline's operations, Cairo was the sixth city on Emirates' route map and is served with eight flights a week, two on Fridays.