Capacity increase of 14% for Emirates in 2009

Emirates Airline has announced its intention to increase its flights across the existing network by a further 14 percent in 2009.

The Emirates fleet will be increased by 18 passenger aircraft this year, which will increase their seating capacity by 14 percent and pave the way for new routes and increased frequencies.

Cargo capacity for Emirates will also be expanded by 17 percent.

“The next year is not going to be an easy ride for the airline industry,” said Sheikh Ahmed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

“Emirates has prepared the best we can for the challenges we foresee, but we also see it as a time of opportunity. 2009, with our significant capacity increase, will be a year of consolidation for us, with fewer new routes launched than in previous years.”

“Instead, we will concentrate on strengthening our presence on routes where there is a greater demand from our customers,” he continued.

“All of our new capacity will be deployed in markets where we see growth potential, particularly Africa and the Middle East.”

Africa and the Middle East have been tagged as the fastest growing markets for Emirates, recording 17 and 16 percent growth during 2008.

Hence Emirates have recently added a second daily flight to Lagos, and will introduce services between Dubai and Durban, South Africa, as well as additional services to Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Damascus.

The new aircraft for Emirates’ fleet includes four superjumbo Airbus A380s, bringing the fleet to 129 wide-bodied aircraft.

The new deliveries will allow the newest routes of Dubai to Los Angeles and San Francisco to become daily, adding 2,000 seats a week to the current 1,600 seats.

Increased services to Australia, Seoul and Singapore are also planned, and the thrice weekly Dubai-Sydney-Auckland A380 service will become daily this May.

European expansion commenced last year, with double daily flights to Milan, eleven flights a week to Istanbul, daily services on the Larnaca-Malta route and five flights to Nice weekly.
This will be complemented by daily services into Moscow and Athens, scheduled to commence in March.

In total, the additional capacity will see more than 8,635 seats and around 600 tonnes of cargo capacity added to the Emirates fleet.

“Emirates has recorded an annual growth rate of 20 per cent over the last five years,” reported Sheikh Ahmed.