Emirates' Third Daily Service Touches Down at Birmingham Airport
Emirates has launched a third daily service to Dubai from Birmingham Airport, becoming the first airline to offer a direct First Class service to the region.
On board the inaugural flight of this service were passengers originating from more than 15 different cities to Birmingham, including Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, demonstrating Emirates’ global connectivity.
The new daily service between Dubai and Birmingham is operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three class configuration, offering eight Private Suites in First Class, 42 Business Class seats and 310 Economy Class seats per day, as well as 23 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight. It adds seven more inbound flights a week to Birmingham, increasing passenger and cargo capacity on the route by 42 percent.
Flight EK41 from Dubai arriving into Birmingham Airport at 0705hrs on Saturday 1st August.
Laurie Berryman, Vice President, UK, at Emirates, said: “Birmingham is an important international business hub, and the wider Midlands region is a leading tourist destination. Increasing our capacity in Birmingham will improve the city’s global connectivity and give customers across our network and in the Midlands greater flexibility in their travel plans.
“We are also delighted to be the first airline to offer First Class to the region, with the introduction of our acclaimed First Class Private Suites on board the new third daily service. It is a positive sign for the state of the region’s economy and we are confident that there will be strong demand for First Class services among Birmingham passengers.”
“The introduction of the third daily service to Birmingham is another significant investment in the UK market and we look forward to offering further choice and excellent value for money to travellers and businesses, including the cargo community.”
Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport, said: “This additional service means that passengers have access to more than 1,200 seats daily from Birmingham to Dubai, plus even more choice on Emirates' network of global connections across the Far East, the Middle East and Australasia. We have seen the route grow from strength to strength over the last one and a half decades due to the enormous demand in the Midlands for long haul connectivity so I thank the Emirates team for their commitment to Birmingham and wish them a happy 15th anniversary for later this year.”
Emirates started flying to Birmingham in December 2000 when it launched the route with a daily non-stop service, operated by a 278-seat Airbus A330. The second daily service was launched in 2005 operated by the same aircraft.
Both aircraft were upgraded to Boeing 777s by 2007 and in 2010, the dedicated Emirates Lounge opened its doors at Birmingham Airport for the first time. In the 15 years since operations at Birmingham Airport began, Emirates has carried almost six million passengers to and from Birmingham – 600,000 in the 2014–15 financial year alone.
Emirates flight EK41, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, will depart Dubai International Airport at 0235hrs and arrive in Birmingham at 0705hrs. The outbound flight, EK42, will depart Birmingham Airport at 0910hrs and arrive in Dubai at 1910hrs.
All three cabins are equipped with Emirates’ award-winning ice entertainment system with more than 2,000 channels of on-demand entertainment to choose from, including movies, television programmes, games, audio books and music from across the world.