Emirates Rolls Out New Destinations, Menu And Private Suites
Emirates Airline has been committed to India since it started operations in 1985. Today, it operates 172 weekly flights to nine gateways in India, offering customers seamless connectivity to more than 160 destinations, as well as facilitating inbound visitors from across our global network into the country. Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, VP, India & Nepal, Emirates Airline, tells more about the major developments and offerings of the company. “In 2018, our offerings across all three classes have grown – we continue to enhance our in-flight travel experience and push the boundaries of innovation. We also expanded our global network, offering greater choice for our customers by introducing new destinations, as well as layering on services to existing points. Our culinary experience on board was also refurbished in 2018 across all classes with a range of premium brands and spirits on board served complimentary across all routes,” he informed.
Emirates’ new spirits menu is an extensive offering of over 30 new spirits and liqueurs served across all classes. The spirits complement Emirates’ world-class offering of over 80 fine wines and champagnes served across its network daily.
Emirates serves more than 110 million meals a year with the same attention to detail in First, Business and Economy Class. “Catering for more than 55 million dine-in guests a year, we understand global culinary trends better as we serve destination-inspired cuisine on board at the world’s largest flying restaurant,” added Ahmad.
Emirates introduced 3D seat models on emirates.com, becoming the first airline to introduce web virtual reality (VR) technology on its digital platform. The 3D seat model is a visualisation engine that displays an immersive 3D 360-degree view of the interior of the Emirates A380 and the Emirates Boeing 777, giving customers a chance to explore completely refreshing interiors, seats and spacious cabin of the new first-class private suites.
With an expansive route network in 2018, Emirates has also launched new services to London Stansted and Santiago de Chile (via Sao Paulo). “Chile is a popular destination for business and leisure travellers around the world and in particular India. Chile is also home to a growing Indian community that can now take advantage of the new service. The country has many things to offer to Indian travellers who are seeking adventure and culture,” added Ahmad.
Emirates has announced a big partnership between Emirates and flydubai which initially began with codeshare flights to 29 cities. This has quickly expanded to meet the growing demand as customers realised the benefits of increased flight frequencies, expanded access to global destinations, the convenience of checking in their baggage through to the final destination, smooth transfers during transit in Dubai, and much more.
India is also following the trend and rising like a huge luxury travel market. According to a market study, as many as 44 percent of travellers from India increased their travel spends in 2016. India is 18th in the global travel budget rankings, with an estimated average budget of $3,107, compared with the global average travel spend of $5,100.
Emirates is committed to future investment and expansion in the market in support of the country’s goal to be the world’s third largest aviation market by 2020. The award-winning loyalty programme, Emirates Skywards, is free to join and offers travellers great value, choice, and flexibility across the loyalty program.
