Emirates plans to open six new destinations next year including gateways in the USA, Scotland, Central Europe, China and West Africa in a network expansion spread over four continents.
On January 1, 2004, the airline’s operations in Africa move forward with flights to Lagos and Accra. On April 10 Shanghai and Glasgow come on line. On May 1, flights to Vienna will commence and the airline is also hoping to launch non-stop services to New York.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Screed Al Maktoum, chairman of Emirates, said: “In 2004, Emirates will fly further than ever before to reach our goal of being a truly global airline. We will open destinations, where we know, there is demand for services that meet passenger requirements using the very latest technology.”
The new non-stop service will dramatically reduce traveling times for business and leisure passengers between the East Coast USA and the Lower Gulf and destinations beyond. To date, travel has often been via a point in Europe sometimes requiring a change of terminal. Traffic from the USA is expected to come from both leisure and business travelers to the Gulf and ethnic communities traveling to the Indian Subcontinent and East Africa. The new service will be daily, but is still subject to Government approval.
In May next year, ten central European countries officially become members of the European Union. Four of them - Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia - border Austria and are well placed to use Vienna as a gateway to the Gulf and points East. Vienna also offers a fast route via Dubai to Australia, where Central European communities have settled. Flights start four times weekly May 1 and daily services from May 15.