BY JAMES WILKINSON
In a boost to inbound Australasian tourism, Emirates is increasing its presence in Spain with the launch of Barcelona flights and the doubling of Madrid services from July.
Barcelona will become Emirates’ 30th destination in Europe and will be launched on July 3 with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three class configuration including First Class Private Suites.
“Emirates is making a very significant investment in Spain,” said Emirates’ President Tim Clark. “To announce a new destination and a doubling of services to an existing gateway at the same time demonstrates our belief in the market and our commitment to the country.
“Madrid has been a strong performer and the demand is there for a second frequency, while we need a second point serving the dynamic Catalonia region,” he said.
Emirates’ new Barcelona flight will leave Dubai at 06:55am and land in the Catalonian capital at 12:00pm, while the return takes off at 4:40pm and lands back in Dubai at 01:00am the next day.
“The new link between Dubai and Barcelona service will provide an efficient route to a wide range of Emirates’ destinations across Asia including Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore, all via our superb Terminal 3 in Dubai,” Clark said.
Soon after the new flights launch, Emirates is boosting its Dubai-Melbourne-Auckland service with the upgauging of aircraft to the Airbus A380 superjumbo from October 2012, adding an extra 50,000 seats a year.