Emirates to Offer A380 from Auckland to Barcelona

News Release, 16 July 2013

Emirates to Offer A380 from Auckland to Barcelona

Barcelona is to be added to the growing list of destinations in Europe to which Emirates will offer A380 superjumbo service all the way from Auckland.

Following its successful launch of services to Barcelona in July 2012, Emirates has today announced it will commence a daily A380 service to the Spanish city from February 2014.

Increasing overall capacity by almost 44 percent, Emirates’ new A380 service will be the first permanent A380 service to operate into Barcelona El Prat Airport, replacing the route’s existing Boeing 777-300ER service and offering 2198 additional seats per week between Dubai and Barcelona.

Emirates currently offers daily A380 services from Auckland via Dubai right through to London-Heathrow, Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Munich and Moscow, plus Zurich from January 2014 and now Barcelona from February 2014. Emirates currently flies A380s twice daily from Auckland, rising to three times from October.

“Barcelona has been one of the most successful new destinations of 2012,” said Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations West. “In line with this steady growth we feel that the time is ripe to announce the launch of our A380 service, which will continue to connect customers in Spain with Dubai as well as key destinations in Australasia, the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East.”

In February this year Emirates’ popular A380 aircraft was welcomed into Barcelona El Prat Airport by hundreds of onlookers as the airline operated two ad-hoc A380 services to meet the destination’s burgeoning demand.

“The A380 has been a part of our fleet for almost five years and continues to peak customer interest wherever it flies. Introducing the A380 to Barcelona permanently will not only increase our capacity but will also further highlight our commitment to the city,” added Mr. Frach.

Since launching its inaugural flight to Barcelona last year Emirates has further committed to this dynamic destination with the five year sponsorship of the Barcelona Open Tennis Tournament earlier this year.

The Emirates A380 currently serves a total of 21 destinations with a further four destinations to launch in the next six months including Brisbane in October,  Los Angeles on December 2, Mauritius on 16th December 16 and Zurich on January 1.

Emirates has the world's largest order of Airbus A380s with 35 in its fleet and a further 55 to be delivered.

ENDS

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