Emirates to resume flights to seven cities in July, aims to reach 90% of pre-pandemic network

Dubai airline Emirates is ramping up operations and expanding services to meet “strong leisure travel demand over the summer”, it said on Thursday.

The airline will resume services to seven cities in July including: Venice on July 1; Phuket, Nice, Orlando and Mexico City on July 2; Lyon on July 9 and Malta on July 14.

Emirates will also launch flights to Florida’s second largest city, Miami, starting July 22.

Currently, the airline is operating to 115 global passenger destinations, and by the end of July, it will have recovered close to 90 per cent of its pre-pandemic network, operating 880 weekly services across 124 cities, a statement said.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates chairman and CEO said: “We are working hard to rebuild our network and secure access to more destinations in partnership with various authorities and stakeholders.

“We are encouraged by the latest developments as many countries have begun to turn the page and reopen for international visitors, and we are seeing strong signs of pent-up demand wherever restrictions have eased.”

Across its network, the airline said it will boost capacity and expand schedules by adding frequencies for the summer.

Emirates will be adding frequencies to 12 cities as more destinations re-open for international visitors, and offer quarantine-free travel.

Additional flights will be introduced during July and August to German cities Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg; Zurich; Vienna; Prague; Madrid; Stockholm; Brussels; Lisbon; Chicago and Tunis.

The airline is also ramping up its trans-Atlantic operations Milan-New York and Athens-Newark to meet large passenger volumes and high demand across its premium cabins, it said.

Emirates will also boost its A380 network this summer to 15 cities on 129 weekly services.

During the summer, the airline also plans to activate over 30 of its A380s to support its 151 fleet of Boeing 777s. Emirates will be deploying the jumbo jet to Cairo, Jeddah, Amman, Guangzhou, London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris, Munich, Moscow, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Toronto.

The carrier was hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, and recently reported a loss of Dhs20.3bn ($5.5bn) for the 2020-2021 fiscal year after a Dhs1.1bn ($288m) profit in the previous year.

Emirates’ total revenue for the financial year declined 66 per cent to Dhs30.9bn.

The airline carried 6.6 million passengers in 2020-21, down 88 per cent year-on-year, with seat capacity down by 83 per cent.

Emirates also received a capital injection of Dhs11.3bn from its shareholder, the government of Dubai, Sheikh Ahmed said.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates Group reports $6bn annual loss, records first non-profitable year in over three decades