Emirates fortifies Far Eastern network

Richard Vaughan, Emirates' Senior Vice President Commercial Operations East Asia & Australasia said: "Emirates Airline is a hot favourite amongst travellers in the Far East - in fact in the last financial year, strong customer preference meant the East Asia and Australasia region was responsible for 28 per cent of our revenue. By increasing our services, we are providing our customers in key markets with more schedule flexibility, capacity and choice.

"Our web of connections in the Far East offer travellers speed and convenience, while travellers outbound from the region enjoy connecting to Emirates' vast network in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and the fantastic duty free at Dubai International Airport. As the Far Eastern economies escalate, customers are increasingly relying on our wide-bodied jets to provide more belly-hold cargo payloads to ease the capacity constraints faced in these markets."

Hong Kong

From 1st October, Emirates has intensified services between Dubai and Hong Kong with two additional flights every Thursday and Saturday to help travellers wrap-up their business and take advantage of the weekends in both countries. The new flights have boosted the airline's services by 17 per cent, from 12 flights to 14 flights per week.

Jakarta

Starting end-October, Emirates will fly directly to Jakarta thrice every week - Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays - returning to Dubai via Singapore. The new direct flights enhance the airline's services to its customers in Indonesia. The city is also served four times a week by Flight EK 348, flying via Colombo and Singapore, and thrice a week by EK 346 via Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore

Emirates will add six more weekly services from Dubai to Singapore starting 30th October. The new operations represent a growth of 33 per cent, bringing the total number of flights between the two cities to 24 per week. Currently, the airline operates 18 weekly flights from Dubai to Singapore - two direct daily flights and four via Colombo.

Singapore also serves as Emirates' gateway to Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland, weaving a web of convenient connections across the Asia-Pacific region. In total Emirates will serve Singapore with 42 services per week, up from the current 36.

Kuala Lumpur

From end-October, Emirates will offer five weekly direct services to Kuala Lumpur in addition to three flights via Singapore. The new schedule means that the airline will serve Kuala Lumpur with a total of eight weekly flights.

Bangkok

From early November, Emirates will add one more direct flight from Dubai to Bangkok - instead of Wednesdays, flight EK 372 will now fly on Thursdays and Saturdays - serving the city with a total of 19 flights a week.

In addition to these five destinations, Emirates also serves Shanghai, Seoul, Osaka, Manila and Taipei (cargo only) - a total of 10 destinations in the Far East. In February 2006, the airline will launch daily services to Beijing, the airline's second destination in China.