Emirates Airlines, has announced that it would operate its flagship A380 on services between Dubai and Guangzhou from October 1, to coincide with the 67th National Day of the People’s Republic of China.
This follows the airline’s recent announcements of A380 deployments on its Milan and Johannesburg routes.
A statement issued by the airline and copied to the GNA in Accra, said Guangzhou would join more than 40 destinations on Emirates’ extensive global network served by its highly popular A380 aircraft, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, London, Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Auckland, Bangkok, and Seoul.
Since the route’s inauguration in 2008, Emirates has been flying a two-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on its daily flights between Guangzhou and Dubai, and has seen steady growth for its service on the route.
“The commencement of A380 services will increase capacity by 15 per cent to meet the growing travel and trade demand from Southern China to Dubai and beyond,” the statement said.
Emirates would deploy its three-class A380 on the Guangzhou route, offering a total of 491 seats, with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 mini pods with lie-flat seats in Business Class and 401 spacious seats in Economy Class.
Named the World’s Best Airline 2016 and the airline with the World’s Best Inflight Entertainment at the recent Skytrax World Airline Awards, all Emirates’ customers travelling on the A380 can access more than 2,500 channels on demand audio and visual entertainment.
“In addition, First and Business Class customers can comfortably socialise or relax in the renowned On-board Lounge on the upper deck of the Emirates A380.
“Emirates EK362/363 offers First Class customers the exclusive service of the on-board shower spas during flights, which makes Emirates the only airline in the Guangzhou market offering this premium customer product on an A380,” the statement said.
The airline said it is keen to support China’s economic, trade and connectivity ambitions as the country looked to connect the world through the Belt and Road Initiative.
The statement said with its wide network across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, Emirates served 56 cities in 31 of the 65 countries identified as part of the Initiative and was a ready-made connector of people and trade.
“The Emirates A380 service from Guangzhou will provide leisure travellers with ideal connectivity to popular destinations such as Prague and Warsaw.
“It also connects traders conveniently for business trips to cities such as Cairo, Kuwait, Doha, Amman, Al Medinah and Riyadh,” it said.
Source: GNA