BRITISH Airways, the UK’s flagship carrier, which operates 49 weekly flights from the GCC to London Heathrow, celebrated the 75th anniversary of its Middle East services last month by announcing six additional weekly services on the Dubai-Heathrow route.
With the winter schedule commencing on December 17 and running through to the end of March 2008, the six additional services take British Airways’ capacity on the route to 8,900 seats per week, a 22 per cent rise on the summer schedule.
“Due to overwhelming demand during the winter period, we are adding six weekly flights on the Dubai-London route, taking us up to 20 weekly services,“ said Paul Starrs, British Airways’ commercial manager for the Middle East.
“Morning, afternoon and evening departures six days a week will suit all travel itineraries. Our UAE business and corporate customers can look forward to having greater options available whether they are landing in the UK, or connecting to our global network of 140 destinations.“
Speaking on the 75th anniversary, Starrs said, “This region has evolved exponentially during this time and, while emerging as a vastly important market for the airline, has become a case-study on how to build credible business environments through economic diversification for people the world over.
“Times have changed a little during the last three quarters of a century – we no longer use a special flying boat service that requires ten stop-overs to reach the UAE – and from their own doorstep our passengers can now access every corner of the world by utilising our global network of over 140 destinations in more than 70 countries, making us the industry leader.“