Emirates Airline has announced that it will start using its Airbus A380s on flights to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and the Italian capital Rome from December 1. This increases the number of destinations served by the Super Jumbo to 16, and additional routes are expected to be added as further aircraft are delivered.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier will be the first airline to use the A380 on regular scheduled passenger flights in Malaysia, a market it has been serving since October 1996 when it launched flights to Kuala Lumpur via Dhaka. It now offers three direct flights per day between Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.
The United Arab Emirates is a leading business partner with Malaysia and over the last decade trade has expanded more than three-fold from $1.16 billion in 2000 to $4.59 billion last year. “Emirates has always been committed to Malaysia and the launch of the A380 on the route follows strong and increasing demand, not just from business travellers, but leisure travellers as well, boosting Malaysian tourism," said Richard Jewsbury, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Far East & Australasia, Emirates Airline.
The introduction of the A380 on regular flights to Rome follows this year’s special flight with the aircraft to the Italian city in June to mark the 50th anniversary celebrations for Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, while commemorating 150 years of Italian unification. The airline currently has five flights per day into Italy from Dubai, including two rotations to Rome and Milan Malpensa and a daily flight to Venice.
"The permanent service of the Emirates' A380 to Rome underscores our commitment to Italy, having served this ever-growing market since 1992," said Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation, Emirates Airline. "We would like to express our gratitude to the airport authorities who have strategically upgraded their infrastructure to accommodate the A380. This purposeful investment will help to strengthen the economic ties and tourism links between the UAE and Italy."
Emirates, the largest customer for the A380, currently has 15 of the type in operation on services from its Dubai hub to London Heathrow (double-daily), Manchester, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Jeddah, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney and Auckland. From October 1, it will also start using the type to Johannesburg and according to sources preliminary plans are being discussed to also introduce the aircraft on flights to Melbourne from early next year.
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