Emirates commits further to India

Emirates airline announces a further expansion of its India operation as India propels itself to become one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation industries encouraged by a liberalization of its skies.

The Dubai-based airline will add 22 weekly flights as a direct support for the Indian government’s ambitious growth plan to attract 100 million travellers in 2010. The existing service of 163 flights per week to 10 Indian gateways will be strengthened to 185 over the summer and winter periods. High demand routes - Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram - will be the chief beneficiaries.

Underlying Emirates’ continued investment in India, the airline’s expansion programme closely follows its ‘Journey through India’ campaign which involved a major revamp of the inflight product to meet regional preferences of India’s diverse populace.

Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations West Asia and Indian Ocean said: “The global slowdown is not over yet, but the outlook for the future is showing signs of improvement. When traditional European markets dried up, India was quick to refocus its trade and marketing efforts in targeting regions not severely affected by the economic downturn such as the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. Emirates has a robust global network spanning over 100 cities in more than 60 countries and is well-placed to connect India to the world.

“Already, Emirates is witnessing a surge in the number of Middle East travellers seeking medical tourism options in India, given the favourable exchange rate and world-class facilities available.”