Emirates Premium Travel with Boeing 777-300ER

 

Emirates welcomes the arrival of its inaugural Boeing 777-300ER

The new 354-seat aircraft introduces Emirates’ renowned First Class cabin on the Durban route and boosts passenger capacity by close to 30 percent, confirming Emirates’ continuing growth in South Africa.

The Boeing 777 offers the highest standards of passenger comfort, with eight luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 304 generously-sized Economy Class seats. All classes of the aircraft are equipped with Emirates award-winning ice entertainment system with more than 1,200 channels of on-demand entertainment to choose from. This includes 200 movies from around the world, 100 TV channels, more than 500 audio channels, 100 video games and news, as well as sports and business headlines.

Customers can also look forward to gourmet food in all cabins and seamless transfers to the Emirates’ extensive global network through the airline’s state-of-the-art Terminal 3 hub in Dubai.

Emirates Broadens Its African Network with Lusaka and Harare 

Extending its reach into Africa with the launch of a new linked service to Lusaka and Harare. Now flying to 22 points within Africa, Emirates airlines will connect Zambia and Zimbabwe to key markets across Europe, the Far East, Australasia and the Indian Subcontinent.

To support the linked service, Emirates will promote Zambia and Zimbabwe’s tourism attractions, including Victoria Falls, the Zambezi River, game reserves and safaris, in advertising campaigns executed across the airline’s global network.

Emirates Holidays also feature eight pages on Zimbabwe and Zambia in its 2012 World of Choice brochure.

“Zambia and Zimbabwe are both important emerging business and industrial centres, with economies that are projected to grow by over five per cent annually during the coming years,” said Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President Revenue Optimisation & Distribution. “Emirates’ new service will play a significant role in supporting this growth by connecting Lusaka and Harare to our worldwide network, opening new conduits for trade, investment and tourism.”

Upon arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka, Emirates’ inaugural Flight 713 was greeted by a traditional water cannon salute. "Emirates’ decision to operate to Lusaka represents new economic doors being opened to our country. The fact that this airline, which is successful on all continents, is entering markets like ours as part of its expansion plans is clear evidence of excellent future prospects for Zambia and Zambians,” said the Honourable Given Lubinda, the Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Emirates services to Lusaka will be a huge boost to its tourism industry, helping to support the Zambia Tourism Board’s target for increasing visitor arrivals by 22.5 percent to one million visitors in 2012. The onward connection to Harare, operated by Zimbabwean Captain Ca Busiso Ndlovu, also received a warm welcome at Harare International Airport.

"The arrival of Emirates to Zimbabwe is a very significant development for the market. We welcome the entrance of a truly global airline; with an extensive network, large fleet and great reputation for quality service which will greatly improve choice and connectivity for Zimbabwean travelers," said the Honourable Nicholas Goche, Zimbabwean Minister of Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development. "Emirates will bring greater capacity and fare competitiveness, which will certainly lead to traffic growth to and from Zimbabwe."

Emirates’ services to Harare will support the Tourism Ministry’s projections that the sector will contribute over US$5 billion to the country’s economy by 2015. Following the launch of Lusaka and Harare, Emirates started services to Dallas, Texas on 2nd February and Seattle on 1st March, Ho Chi Minh City on 4th June and Barcelona on 3rd July. Emirates' 173-strong fleet is one of the youngest in the skies. Emirates SkyCargo’s fleet includes eight freighters (two Boeing 747-400Fs, two 747-400ERF and four 777Fs) that now serves 123 destinations in 73 countries on six continents.