Emirates Airline is to introduce its first flights into Portugal with a new daily link between Dubai and Lisbon to be introduced from July 9, 2012. The new service will be operated with a three-class Boeing 777-200ER and its announcement follows just weeks after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier revealed it would also add flights to Barcelona in neighbouring Spain.
“Lisbon has been on our European wish-list for some time. Our daily flight will link this far western corner of Europe with our strong route network, via Dubai, into Africa, across Asia and beyond, said Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline. “We will be the only carrier based in the Middle East operating into Portugal, bringing our refreshing approach to customer service, our dynamic and inspiring approach to business, along with superb value for money.”
The airline has been in informal talks with Lisbon Airport for around three to four years but meetings between the two intensified over the past 12 months as the arrival of new aircraft in the Dubai-based carrier's fleet have opened new route development opportunities. "Over the last year we had more detailed discussions," Nuno Almeida Costa, Head of Aviation Marketing, ANA Aeroportos de Portugal - Lisbon Airport told The HUB, acknowledging that it was at last year's World Routes event in Berlin, Germany that it first felt that the route discussions would come to fruition.
Portugal has a population of around ten million, of which nearly two million live in Lisbon and its suburbs. It is estimated there are some 200 million Portuguese speakers around the world, making it the third most spoken European language globally, according to official tourism statistics. Emirates currently serves many of the countries where Portuguese is heard including India, Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Brazil and Hong Kong - gateway to the former Portuguese enclave of Macau.
Since joining what became the European Union in the mid-1980s, Portugal’s traditional focus on an agricultural economy has become increasingly diversified, with a steady expansion of the service sector. As one of Europe’s warmest countries, Portugal is a popular tourist destination. Its main exports feature textiles, clothing, wood products, machinery, tools and electrical equipment.
There are already relatively strong links between Portugal and Africa, but there are currently no direct flights into Asia, a market that can now be opened by Emirates wider network from Dubai International Airport. "Securing an airline to serve the Middle East and Far East markets has been a key strategic route development goal for us," said Nuno Almeida Costa. An estimated 245,000 O&D passengers travelled between Portugal and destinations in Asia in the past year, with the largest traffic flows being to South Korea and Hong Kong.
Over recent years China has been making more investments in Portugal business and with the current European economic crisis being felt particularly hard in the Mediterranean country, the new route could help stimulate further investment. "China is a very important market for us and there is also a large Chinese population in Portugal," added Nuno Almeida Costa.
Elsewhere in Europe, Emirates is to also introduce a third daily rotation between Dubai and Milan Malpensa as its growth in the Italian market continues. The new flight will be introduced from June 1, 2012 and will increase the airline’s schedule to Italy to 49 flights a week. Emirates has already announced the introduction of a second daily flight to Venice from March 25, 2012 and introduced the Airbus A380 onto its Rome route in 2011.
Emirates currently utilises a Boeing 777-300ER on its two existing flights between Dubai and Milan but will use a smaller 227-seat Airbus A330-200 on this new rotation. An estimated 124,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up 20.5 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Average air fares have also strengthened by an estimated 7.0 per cent during the same period.
"Our European network is growing stronger and stronger and a number of important developments are taking place in Italy," said Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and Russian Federation, Emirates Airline. "This is another significant investment in the Italian market and we look forward to offering further choice and excellent value for money to travellers and businesses, including the cargo community."
Over the past couple of months Emirates has announced a significant expansion in its capacity to Europe with additional flights and new routes to Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK. "Our expansion in Europe is particularly significant in these challenging economic times. We are creating and supporting jobs in the travel industry and many other related sectors, while opening up new markets to importers and exporters," explained Salem Obaidalla. As an example, since starting flights to Italy in 1992, Emirates flights have helped contribute to a US$ 4.6 billion trade relationship between the country and the UAE.
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