Emirates A350. Photo: Emirates Emirates is getting ready to enter the cold season with a hot bookings schedule across several international markets, while continuing to expand its fleet, upgrade cabins and add capacity across its global network.
The airline carried more than 8.6 million passengers during July and August, maintaining seat load factors above 75% across services to and from West Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa. Emirates is now operating at around 93% of its pre-disruption capacity, with bookings for the winter season showing positive momentum.
Demand is currently ahead of last year in markets including South Africa, Brazil, India, Portugal, Egypt, Ghana, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Nepal is also seeing strong demand through Emirates' partnership with flydubai. The UAE remains an important outbound market, while premium travel demand continues to grow.
Routes to and from Indonesia, Côte d'Ivoire and the UK were among the strongest performers during the summer. Emirates also recorded growing demand for Premium Economy, with the Americas seeing the largest increase in demand for the cabin.
Dubai remained a strong destination for Emirates passengers. In late August alone, more than 500,000 customers arrived in Dubai on Emirates flights, 7% more than during the same period last year. The passengers included returning residents, people relocating to Dubai and visitors taking late-summer holidays.
Photo: EmiratesEmirates also expanded its flexibility offering during the summer. Customers received one free date change across the network and unlimited free date changes for journeys to Dubai. The airline also reduced refund fees on Dubai journeys and introduced Comprehensive Travel Cover, which includes medical protection related to conflict and airspace disruption, along with airline-managed accommodation, ground support and rebooking.
Emirates has added 18 aircraft since January, including 11 Airbus A350s and seven Boeing 777 freighters. Another six A350s are expected to arrive before the end of December.
The airline's retrofit program has now covered 104 aircraft, including 53 Boeing 777s and 51 A380s. The number of aircraft featuring Premium Economy and Emirates' latest cabin products has reached 137 and is expected to rise to 155 by the end of December.
Premium Economy is now available on services to 90 destinations, with six more destinations scheduled to receive the cabin before the end of the year, including Paris, Delhi and Stockholm.
Emirates is also installing Starlink connectivity across its fleet, with almost 50 aircraft now equipped with the system. The airline has introduced other new products this year, including U-dream headrests in A350 Economy Class, new Premium Economy seats with privacy dividers and upgraded lounges in Munich, Frankfurt and Manchester.
The airline's winter expansion includes the launch of Helsinki services with the A350 on October 1. The A350 currently serves 30 destinations from Dubai, a figure Emirates expects to increase to 36 by the end of the year.
Emirates will also add second daily flights to Accra, Tokyo Narita, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. One daily Delhi service will be upgraded to an A380.
From late October, the A350 will also operate to Larnaca, Malta, Nairobi and Hamburg, followed by Mauritius in November. Retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft will be introduced on services to Stockholm in October and Frankfurt in November.
The airline's network further extended through 168 codeshare, interline and intermodal partnerships, provides access to an additional 1,750 cities. Emirates says more than 13,000 customers connect to partner airline services on an average day.
The partnership with flydubai remains central to Dubai's connectivity. Together, the airlines now serve more than 214 unique destinations across more than 100 countries, offering more than 4,600 connection opportunities through Dubai.
Since the partnership began in 2017, Emirates and flydubai have carried more than 28 million passengers across their combined network. Further expansion this year includes Pokhara in Nepal, following the addition of Chittagong, Benghazi, Aleppo and Bangkok Don Mueang to the flydubai network.