Emirates to launch Venice flights next summer

Dubai-based Emirates Airline has announced it will launch non-stop services to the city of Venice, its third Italian destination after Milan and Rome, from 1st July 2007.

The service, initially five-times-a-week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, will increase two months later to a daily service from 1st September 2007. Emirates will operate an Airbus A330-200 on the route offering 27 Business class seats, and 251 in Economy; plus 13 tonnes of bellyhold space for cargo.

Emirates' Dubai-Venice flight will create a new non-stop connection that is expected to foster a greater flow of tourism and business traffic between one of the Middle East's fastest-developing leisure and business hubs, and the thriving commercial region of Veneto in northern Italy.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to expand our services to Italy and are pleased to offer a new direct link between Dubai and Venice.

"Venice is a popular tourism destination and an important gateway in northern Italy for commerce. Our new service will contribute to Italy’s many flourishing small and medium-sized businesses by providing increased access from Venice to other major cities around the globe via Dubai, and vice-versa. Our flights will also provide added capacity for the transportation of goods vital to Italian industries.”

He added: “We look forward to continue providing our Italian customers with excellent travel services, and to working with our industry partners to promote Venice around our global route network.”

Enrico Marchi, S.A.V.E. Venice Airport Chairman said: "Venice has long needed a non-stop connection to the Middle East, a region which is currently served only via European hubs. We are really pleased to welcome Emirates to Venice airport, and we believe the new service will satisfy the existing demand and generate even more traffic into Venice from the Middle and Far East."

Mr. Marchi added: "When new flights connecting Venice to North America were launched, we saw the number of passengers from this new source market increase five-fold, and we expect Emirates' new flight to Dubai to similarly boost traffic, particularly given Dubai's growing status as a transport hub."

Providing convenient connections to travellers flying Emirates from Africa, Asia and Australasia, flight EK135 is scheduled to depart Dubai at 09:45 hours, arriving in Venice at 14:15 hours on the same day. The return flight EK136 will leave Venice at 15:45 hours, arriving in Dubai at 23:35 hours that same evening.

Emirates Airline currently operates daily flights to Rome and Milan with wide-bodied Boeing 777 and Airbus 330-200 aircraft. One of the world’s fastest growing and most successful airlines, Emirates flies a modern fleet of 101 aircraft to 87 cities in 59 countries. In 2006, the airline introduced 11 new cities to its expanding global route network: Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Bangalore, Barcelona (cargo-only), Beijing, Hamburg, Kolkata, Lilongwe (cargo-only), Nagoya, Thiruvananthapuram and Tunis.