Emirates has commenced its first scheduled Airbus A380 service to India with daily flights between Dubai and Mumbai.
Emirates’ Ahmed Khoory, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, West Asia and Indian Ocean, said: “Mumbai was one of the first destinations on our route network when we launched in 1985. Dubai and Mumbai share a rich tapestry of partnerships, business and culture. In the past 29 years, we have flown over 42 million passengers between India and the UAE and so it is quite fitting that the city becomes our 29th A380 destination.
“Now our customers on the route can experience the luxury, the quietness and the outstanding service onboard an Emirates A380, in addition to the other four daily services we will continue to operate to the city.”
To mark the first flights passengers on board EK500 and EK501 from Dubai and Mumbai were given a special commemorative certificate and gift. In addition, a specially commissioned piece of artwork, a traditional Indian “Rangoli” was created by local Mumbai artists.
Emirates now has 50 A380s in its fleet of 224 wide-bodied aircraft and is the largest operator in the world of the double-decker with 90 more on order. The airline operates three A380 services daily between Auckland and Dubai via Australia, with direct connections to A380 flights to cities such as London, Manchester, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Munich, Zurich and Moscow.
Mumbai is the newest destination on its A380 network, and follows closely on the heels of Kuwait, which started on July 16. The A380 offers passengers travelling to and from Mumbai a choice of 14 First Class Suites, 76 lie-flat Business Class seats on the upper deck and 399 comfortable Economy Class seats in four sections on the main deck.
Every seat on board is connected to ice, which has just been voted the world’s best inflight entertainment system for the 10th year in a row by Skytrax, the world’s largest airline passenger satisfaction survey of over 18 million passengers worldwide. Passengers in all cabins can enjoy Emirates’ recently launched Indian menu which features regionally themed dishes from across India, served by multilingual cabin crew.
