Gulf giant Emirates has pencilled in June 23 as the date it plans to start daily rotations to Tel Aviv/Ben Gurion.
Deploying its contingent of three-class Boeing 777-300ERs (pictured) – comprising 304 economy seats, 42 lie-flat chairs in business and eight private first class suites – Flight EK 931 would depart Dubai/International at 1550hrs, arriving in Israel at 1800hrs local time. The return leg, EK 932, leaves Tel Aviv at 1955hrs before arriving back at Emirates’ UAE mega hub at approximately 2359hrs local.
According to Emirates, flight have been scheduled for “convenient access to Dubai” as well as providing optimised travel connection timings to destinations including India, the Philippines, Thailand, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Adnan Kazim, chief commercial officer, Emirates Airline, commented: "Emirates is committed to creating new opportunities for business and tourism, and strengthening the bilateral ties between the UAE and Israel. We are confident that our new services will have a positive impact on enhancing Israel’s connectivity to a wealth of global destinations, and we thank the UAE and Israeli authorities for their ongoing support in making this service possible."
With the introduction of this link, the Dubai-based carrier says that with 20 tonnes of cargo capacity per each sortie, it will provide opportunities for Israeli businesses and start-ups to export, among others, pharmaceuticals, high-tech goods and perishables. Conversely, manufacturing raw materials and components, semiconductors and e-commerce parcels are among goods that are anticipated to be transported into Israel via the rotations.
In other news, the airline’s air freight division, Emirates SkyCargo, plans to reactivate its cargo hub at Dubai/World Central, known as Emirates SkyCentral DWC, from March 26 to handle dedicated freight jet operations as it “responds to growing global demand”.
Consequently, the move will mean a return of dual hub cargo operations for the first time since April 2020 for the carrier – initially, a decision was made to consolidate its dedicated freighter and passenger cargo (via the bellyhold) operations at Dubai/International (DXB) due to the onset of COVID-19.
As such, the March 26 return will see Emirates SkyCentral DWC and Emirates SkyCentral DXB handle cargo from freighter and passenger aircraft at Dubai/World Central and Dubai/International, respectively. Emirates SkyCargo stated that a “fleet of dedicated trucks” will provide seamless cargo connectivity between both Dubai hubs 24/7.
With a total cargo capacity of more than a million tonnes per annum, Emirates SkyCentral DWC was inaugurated back in 2015.
