Emirates adds travel, comfort offerings

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, is to add another daily service from Perth to Dubai from December 1.

The new offering, aboard a 354-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, will give travellers from Western Australia a host of exciting options to Europe.

Emirates flight EK242 will arrive from Dubai just after midnight and the return flight (EK425) will depart for Dubai at 6am, adding 250,000 seats to the route and complementing the airline’s daily A380 evening service.

Currently, the new service is in the reservations systems with no premium economy and a two-three-two layout in business class. However, Emirates is in the middle of a massive fleet upgrade for both the A380 and 777-300ER, with premium economy being added and a new one-two-one business class layout.

While the airline has been rolling out the A380 upgrade since the beginning of last year, the first 777-300ER refresh will appear this coming June.

The airline had planned to have all 67 A380s earmarked for the retrofit program completed by May this year, but parts shortages have delayed the completion. The airline will upgrade 53 of its Boeing 777-300ERs, which should be completed by the end of 2025.

The new service opens up a host of exciting and convenient connections.

EK425 arrives in Dubai at 1.10pm and you’re served breakfast and lunch on the 11-hour flight.

It connects with the 2.50pm EK075 flight to Paris, which arrives in the city of love at 7.30pm, a perfect time to get to your hotel and into bed.

For those visiting London, the flight connects with EK009, an A380 that arrives at Gatwick at 6.25pm. Another interesting option is London Stansted Airport, with EK067 departing Dubai at 2.15pm and arriving at 5.45pm.

Other European destinations with great connections are Rome, Madrid, and Frankfurt.

Outbound to the US, the early morning departure doesn’t work as all of Emirates’ US services are matched to the current late evening A380 service, which arrives in Dubai as the sun is rising.

Emirates is the world’s largest 777 operator, and to meet demand and replacement, the airline placed an order with Boeing for 90 777X airplanes, including 55 777-9 and 35 777-8 jets. The new order was announced during the Dubai Airshow last November and increases Emirates’ 777X family backlog to 205 aircraft.

In addition to the new 777Xs the airline ordered five more 787s, growing its 787 backlog to 35 (while converting 30 787-9s to 20 787-8 and 10 787-10 aircraft to better meet demand).

Boeing’s relationship with Emirates dates back to the airline’s first 777 order in 1992. Today, Emirates has nearly 150 777 jets in its fleet. The 777X family is designed to maximise efficiency and environmental performance by 25 per cent.

Separately – after the successful launch of the Emirates inflight meal pre-ordering initiative on UK routes and the positive feedback received from passengers – the service is now being extended across routes to and from European cities including Warsaw, Venice, Rome, Bologna, Prague, Vienna, Moscow, Istanbul, Dublin, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Brussels and Madrid, as well as to and from Seychelles and Mauritius.

The airline says the initiative will be rolled out across more global routes in the coming months.

The new service allows passengers in business class to preselect their main course between 14 days and 24 hours in advance of their flight departure, ensuring they get their preferred choice every time as well as helping to reduce food wastage.