Emirates Adds Third A380 Route To China

News Release, 28 April 2011

Emirates Adds Third A380 Route To China

Shanghai yesterday welcomed its first scheduled Airbus A380 service when Emirates flight EK302 from Dubai arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Shanghai has became the third destination in China for Emirates' A380, following on from the launch of services to Beijing and Hong Kong in 2010.

"This historic moment was made possible through the support and hard work of a number of dedicated organisations and individuals, particularly the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Shanghai Airport Authority," said Richard Jewsbury, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East & Australasia.

"The number '8' is considered the most fortuitous number in the Chinese culture. Now in our eighth year of passenger operations to Shanghai, we move to the next phase of our strong and valued partnership with the city of Shanghai and Greater China with today's launch of the Airbus A380."

In response, Jia Ruijun, General Manager of Shanghai International Airport Co Ltd, said: "We are thrilled to witness the arrival of Emirates' revolutionary A380 landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. This is an important milestone for us to further reinforce our position as a world class international hub. Emirates is an ideal partner to work with to achieve our aim of building up the airport into China's best, the world's first class and the most attractive core air hub in the Asia-Pacific region."

Emirates has A380 services daily from Auckland via Sydney to Dubai, and directly on to London, Manchester and Paris

The airline's fleet of A380s are currently also operating on services from Dubai to Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Beijing, Jeddah, New York and Hong Kong.

Emirates' A380 will operate to Shanghai three days a week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) as EK302 departing Dubai at 3.10am (local time) and arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 3.30pm (local time).

The return flight EK303 departs Shanghai at 11.30pm (local time) and arrives in Dubai at 4.30am (local time) the following day.

EK302 and EK303 will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Currently Emirates operates double-daily services each from Dubai to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and daily services to Guangzhou.

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