Emirates to expand daily capacity to London with Stansted service
Emirates will launch a daily service from Dubai to London Stansted Airport from next June in response to demand from business travellers.
“Opening the London Stansted gateway was a strategic decision by Emirates to serve the thriving business community in London’s north east and the wider 7.5 million population that fall within its catchment area,” the airline said yesterday.
“With its strategic position close to the technology and pharma hubs of Cambridge and Peterborough, Emirates will be the first Middle Eastern airline to operate out of the popular North East London airport.”
Stansted Airport, which is located on the border of the UK counties of Essex and Cambridgeshire, has historically served as a hub for low-cost carriers such as Easyjet and Ryanair, as well as a host of European airlines.
It has seen high single-digit growth in passenger numbers in recent years, in line with expansion by European airlines and the rising number of corporates, academic and technological institutions close to Peterborough and the university city of Cambridge.
Around 25 multinationals – pharmaceutical and manufacturing firms including Airbus, AstraZeneca and GSK – have sizeable operations in the area.
Stansted received 2.32 million passengers in October, a 7.3 per cent rise from the same month in 2016, according to its latest statistical bulletin.
Emirates’ daily route will be operated by the airline’s new three-class Boeing 777-300ER, which has six seats in first class, 42 in business class and 306 in economy class.
The aircraft is fitted with the new private first class suites that Emirates announced at the Dubai Airshow in November.
Outbound flight EK33 will depart Dubai at 09.30am, and arrive in London Stansted at 2.10pm local time. The return flight EK34 will depart London Stansted at 21.10pm and arrive in Dubai at 07.05am local time the next day.
Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai are the most popular business destinations from the East of England, which Emirates serves daily through its Dubai hub. With the introduction of the London Stansted daily service, there will be 10 Emirates flights daily, connecting Dubai and London, with London Heathrow and Gatwick.
“The introduction of the new London Stansted-Dubai service underscores our commitment to serve London, with operations soon to three different airports in the city,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates.
“There is a clear demand for this service from both business and leisure travellers and we anticipate that this news will be warmly received both across our global network, as well as by the business community based in the Stansted catchment area.”