Emirates to launch second daily service to Lisbon from Jan 2016

Dubai-based Emirates will start operating a second daily service to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon from January 1, 2016, the airline announced on Monday.

The new service aims to capitalise on strong demand on the route.

The new flight, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, will offer eight first class suites, 42 business class seats and 310 economy seats.

EK 193 will leave Dubai at 1440hrs each day and arrive in Lisbon at 1920hrs. The return flight, EK 194 will depart Lisbon at 2100hrs and get into Dubai at 0845hrs the next day.

Emirates launched flights to Lisbon in July 2012 and has seen an average capacity growth of 15 per cent per year.

The new flights have also been timed to “maximise a wave of new global connections” to Lisbon, the statement said.

“In the last three years our flights to Lisbon have gone from strength to strength both on the passenger and cargo side,” said Emirates’ divisional senior vice president Commercial Operations West Hubert Frach.

“There is clearly a need for another daily service to satisfy this demand, which is why we will start a second daily flight from January 1, 2016.

“The additional service will provide customers in Africa, the Far East and Australasia, the Middle East and West Asia with even easier access to Lisbon, supporting the burgeoning business and leisure traffic between these markets and Portugal,” he added.

One of Europe’s warmest countries with over 800 kilometres of Atlantic coast, medieval castles and scenic villages, Portugal is seeing strong growth in its tourism sector.

The country is specially recording a rise in visitor numbers from the Far East, with Portugal’s tourism board selecting China, Japan and Korea as key markets for growth.

“We continue to work closely with Visit Portugal to ensure a coordinated and sustained approach to attracting inbound tourism numbers to Portugal,” said Frach.

The growth in services to Lisbon by Emirates follows the recent announcement of the airline as shirt sponsor for the city’s Benfica Football team until the end of the 2017/18 season.

Emirates currently flies to 37 cities across Europe, offering more than 65 flights per day across the continent. Its overall network includes over 145 destinations across 80 countries.