Emirates will add four more weekly flights to UK's Gatwick by the beginning of August this year, and will make it two daily flights to the UK by early October, said a senior official.

Plans have already been approved, said Mohammed Shareef Raheem, director general of Emirates in the UK and Ireland.

Emirates currently has six weekly flights to the UK - three to Heathrow, one to Gatwick, one to Manchester and one to Birmingham.

By August, a new flight every other day will be scheduled to Gatwick till the beginning of October, when the number will be increased to two daily flights. He said it takes around a year to 'improve' a new route, and added that some of these flights will be used as connections to Australia.

Click for large version

Photo © Jason Taperell

People there, he said, had already begun booking early on these flights, as well as the flight to Perth, from Dubai, also scheduled to start at the beginning of August.

Plans for Emirates have already been drawn up till 2012. He added that Emirates will begin direct flights to different destinations in the U.S. by the summer of 2003.

Emirates daily flies an average of 200 American passengers who come to the UK by different carriers, and who take connection flights to different destinations in the Middle East on a daily basis.

He stressed that negotiations are currently taking place with Indian, Pakistani and Australian governments to start new routes, and results of these negotiations will be implement as they are agreed upon.

Emirates will add one more flight to Paris in August, and a new flight from Dubai to Osaka in Japan by October.

Internet will be available on Emirates' flights soon, and when the time is right bed seats will also be installed.

 

Source: Gulf News