Decreased flights to Luanda in 2014 and 2017, Emirates has announced that they are to reinstate some additional weekly flights to the airport from Dubai International.
Starting from July 1, frequencies will increase from three to five flights per week, with daily services to be launched by the Winter timetable this year. The flights will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which will feature eight seats in First Class, 42 in Business as well as 310 in Economy, offering up to 720 seats extra per week.
The new flights will also offer up to 23 tonnes of cargo per flight, which will give more opportunities to local businesses to import and export goods into the country. Passengers from Luanda will be able to take advantage of the connectivity of Emirates’ portfolio, offering 35 destinations in the Middle East, 18 in Asia and more than 20 across the Americas and Australia.
“As a country rich in resources, Angola has a lot to offer global trade and we have recognized a need to enhance our capacity to enable greater connectivity between our network and Luanda. We remain committed to serving our customers in Angola with not only advanced aircraft but also more innovative product and service options,” said Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for Africa.
“Reinstating these flights and growing our service to a daily operation, will benefit trade links, boost investment and will contribute to the economy by promoting business and supporting Angola’s supply chain,” later added Mr. Abbas.
EK793 will depart from Dubai at 0955 local and arrive in Luanda at 1440 local. EK794, the return flight will depart from Luanda at 1815 local and arrive in Dubai for 0500 local the next day. For the daily services in the winter, EK793 will depart Dubai at 1010 local and arrive in Luanda for 1510 local, with the return flight, EK794, departing Luanda at 1815 local and arriving in Dubai at 0455 local the next day.
Emirates’ relationship with Luanda is entering its 9th year, having launched services in August 2009 using their Airbus A330-200 Aircraft. December 2014 saw the carrier increase the services to daily. Three years later due to resource optimisation, they reduced the flight frequencies down to three weekly. Overall, it is good news for Luanda as they can now reinstate the flights that previously existed and continue on the expansive growth that both the airport and the airline wants to provide to fliers.
