Following news release is issued for Emirates Airline:
News Release, 5 February 2013
Emirates Upscales Zambia, Zimbabawe Service To B777-300ER
Emirates has upgraded its daily Zambia-Zimbabwe service to a Boeing 777-300ER just a year after starting to fly from
Dubai to Lusaka and Harare..
Acting Director for Communications, Transport, Works and Supply Lubinda Sakanga and other dignitaries were given a tour
of the 354-seat aircraft by Emirates Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for Africa, Jean Luc Grillet, and
Emirates’ Country Manager for Zambia, Khalid Hassan, when it touched down in Lusaka for the first time.
“Introducing the Boeing 777-300ER on the Dubai-Lusaka-Harare route, just a year after we launched our service to Zambia
and Zimbabwe, reflects the phenomenal growth we have seen in these markets and demonstrates Emirates’ commitment for the
long haul,” said Jean Luc Grillet.
All four daily Emirates flights between New Zealand and Dubai provide direct connections in each direction with the
Lusaka-Harare service.
The aircraft upgrade adds more than 1,600 seats a week on Emirates’ Lusaka and Harare routes. The plane is the longest
passenger aircraft ever to touch down in Lusaka, replacing the 237-seat Airbus A330-200 on the route - a capacity
increase of more than 50 per cent.
The Boeing 777-300ER is the backbone of the Emirates fleet, with 83 in service and a further 68 on order.
The new plane has 354 seats in a three-class configuration offering eight luxurious First Class suits, 42 seats in
Business Class and generous space for 304 passengers in Economy Class, providing an additional 50 per cent capacity, or
117 extra seats per flight, compared with the current Airbus A330-200 aircraft being operated on the route. The arrival
of the larger aircraft will mean an increase in cargo carrying capacity of some 22 per cent to more than 18,000 kgs per
flight.
Emirates has launched flights to a host of exciting new destinations last year; Dublin, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires,
Dallas Fort Worth, Seattle, Lusaka, Harare, Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, Lisbon, Erbil, Washington DC, Adelaide, Lyon
and Phuket.
Warsaw, Algiers and Haneda will also join the Emirates’ network in 2013.
ENDS