Dubai, October 2010 – Emirates underlined its commitment to Libya today by announcing that it will increase capacity on its Tripoli services by 40 percent.
Starting from the 1st November, Emirates will introduce three additional weekly flights to Tripoli, bringing the total number of weekly flights to 10. The new EK 743 flight will depart Dubai at 1740hrs and arrive in Tripoli at 2210hrs every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. The return flight, EK 744, will depart Tripoli at 0010hrs and arrive in Dubai at 0720hrs on every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.
“The number of passengers travelling with Emirates has been growing steadily since the launch of the Tripoli service a decade ago,” said Haitham Al Battawy, Emirates Manager Libya. “We have received numerous requests from both business and leisure travellers within Libya to increase services and we are delighted to be able to respond with these additional flights.”
“Emirates will continue to offer its customers the best travel experience on the market and now Libyan travelers will have even more convenient access to Emirates’ network of over 100 global destinations,” added Al Battawy.
Currently, Emirates’ flights to Tripoli are served by an Airbus A340- 500 aircraft that offers 258 seats in a three class configuration: 12 First Class Suites, 42 Business Class and 204 Economy Class seats, alongside 15 tonnes of belly-hold capacity. The new services will be served by an A300-200 aircraft offering 12 First Class, 42 Business Class and 183 Economy seats.
The additional services will also enable SkyCargo to even better serve Libyan exporters by offering them greater capacity and more frequent connections with their target markets.
Emirates offers passengers in Tripoli a range of online services including online check-in, the ability to pre-select seats and even request special meals based on specific dietary requirements. Customers also have the ability to check their baggage allowance, including the estimated cost calculator for excess baggage, check their flight status and even subscribe for mobile flight status alerts.
The additional capacity announcement comes towards the end of a busy year for Emirates. The airline has launched five new destinations in 2010: Tokyo (Japan) on 28 March, Amsterdam on 1st May, Prague (Czech Republic) on 1st July, Madrid (Spain) on 1st August, and Dakar on 1st September 2010.
Emirates is the largest A380 operator in the world and flies from Dubai to Paris, Jeddah, Seoul, Bangkok, Sydney, Auckland, Beijing, Manchester, London Heathrow and Toronto. In addition – from the 31st October – the aircraft will make its much-anticipated return to New York with its non-stop service between Dubai and JFK.
Emirates currently flies to 105 destinations in 64 countries in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Asia-Pacific.