Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, continued on its strong growth trajectory adding 15 new destinations to the network since January 2012, bringing new countries, cultures and experiences for customers to explore. The list of new points began with Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires in January 2012 and continued with Dublin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Seattle, Lusaka, Harare, Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, Lisbon, Erbil, Washington DC, Adelaide, Lyon and Phuket. Further Emirates kicked off the New Year with two new routes – Warsaw and Algiers with more routes slated to be announced.
In line with the increase in destinations and frequencies, Emirates continued its rapid fleet expansion during 2012, receiving delivery of an unprecedented 33 aircraft, which included a record 11 A380s and 22 Boeing 777s, which included four freighters. The growth of Emirates’ A380 fleet and routes expansion is unparalleled. On December 10, 2012 the airline added an A380 service to London Heathrow which makes all five daily flights serviced by A380s; to Singapore, Moscow, Melbourne and from January 1, 2013, a double daily A380 service for New York and Paris began. The airline also unveiled its 1,000th Boeing 777 at Boeing’s plant in Everett, Washington.
In another first for the business, Emirates took delivery of three new aircraft in a single day – the airline’s 24th and 25th Airbus A380 and the fleet’s 78th Boeing 777-300ER. This was followed in December with a record-breaking five aircraft being delivered in one month: three A380s and two Boeing 777s – all representative of the speed of growth throughout the year and a strong platform for expansion into 2013.
Emirates’ award winning inflight entertainment experience will now be even better due to the newly enhanced wide personal TV screens: 27-inch in First Class, 20-inch in Business Class and 12.1 inch in Economy Class, all with high definition resolution.
Last year also saw the airline announce a proposed partnership with Qantas which will see Qantas move its hub for European flights from Singapore to Dubai.
2013 also saw Emirates’ successful completion of the phased launch of Concourse A – the home of the A380 and the world’s first purpose-built facility for the aircraft at Dubai International. The facility will provide 20 A380 capable contact gates and Emirates luxurious First Class and Business Class lounges, which comprise 29,000 sq m of the facility.