Emirates Airline on Wednesday returned the A380 double-decker aircraft to South African skies for the start of a scheduled service between Dubai and Johannesburg due to an increasing demand of flights between the two cities.
The A380 offers a total of 516 seats in a three class cabin configuration with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 mini pods with lie-flat seats in Business Class and 426 spacious seats in Economy Class.
Johannesburg becomes Emirates’ 46th destination in its global network to which it operates the double-decker aircraft.
Emirates already operates four flights a day between the two cities with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Orhan Abbas, Emirates senior vice-president for commercial operations in Africa, said they decided to operate one of these flights with the larger A380 due to growing demand for seats on the route.
“Over the past five years Emirates’ passenger numbers on the route have grown by 47 percent,” Abbas said in a statement.
“Customers love the Emirates A380 and since joining our fleet in 2008 the aircraft continues to delight and excite them wherever it operates. Its popularity and the additional capacity it offers will further stimulate growth in both outbound and inbound leisure and business travel.”
Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, welcomed the inaugural flight of Emirates’ flagship aircraft to Johannesburg.
“Introducing the A380 on this route symbolises Emirates’ commitment to the development of tourism in South Africa. It indicates confidence in our country’s enduring tourism offerings and the potential for even further growth, following the strong surge in international arrivals last year,” Hanekom said.
Chief executive of South African Tourism, Sisa Ntshona, said the industry looked forward to further collaborations with Emirates Airlines in bringing more tourists into the country, more frequently.
“We saw a 37.4 percent growth from the Middle East from January to October 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. This increased capacity will help us achieve our mandate of increasing tourist arrivals into the country,” Ntshona said.
Emirates also offers three daily flights between Dubai and Cape Town, and a daily flight between Dubai and Durban. All other Emirates flights between Dubai and South Africa will continue to be served by the modern and also popular Boeing 777.
– African News Agency (ANA)