Emirates has resumed its "double daily" service between Dublin and Dubai following a nearly two-and-a-half year hiatus enforced by the pandemic.
Enda Corneille, county manager for Emirates in Ireland, confirmed that the company's Dublin office had seen a four-fold increase in business to Dubai year-on-year for the first seven months of 2022, necessitating the reinstatement of the second daily services to and from the UAE.
Flights from Dublin to Dubai departing at 10:05pm and from Dubai to Dublin departing at 3:15pm will join the regularly scheduled 2:20pm Dublin-Dubai and 7:15am Dubai-Dublin flights on the departures board.
"The appetite for international travel has surpassed our expectations and traffic to Dubai for the current period is up 448% on the same period last year,” said Corneille.
“But in addition to Dubai, we have seen huge growth in bookings for Australia as families and friends reconnect following the reopening of Australian borders. While we all know how tough the past two years have been, we have a lot of very happy passengers onboard right now.
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“This demand has been building for several months and once we could ensure that our second flight would be supported with all of the on-the-ground infrastructure and logistics needed for us to provide a premium service, we set the 1 September date.
"I would like to thank all of the stakeholders who have helped make this happen. We have been looking forward to this day for a very long time.”
Bookings for the winter season are already strong, according to Corneille, and the five most popular destinations for Emirates customers in Ireland are Dubai, Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok and Mauritius.
Emirates has also doubled cargo capacity with the resumption of the second flight, with up to 50 tonnes of freight being carried from Dublin to Dubai per day.
The airline recently announced plans to retrofit 120 of its aircraft from November, representing a multi-billion dollar investment with the aim of upgrading four Emirates aircraft from state to finish every month for two years.
The investment will see the installation of 4,000 premium economy seats, the refurbishment of 728 first-class suites, and the upgrading of 5,000 business class seats by April 2025.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, Corneille also confirmed he would be stepping down as head of Emirates in Ireland after eight years in the role, but added that he would not be interested in becoming CEO of DAA.
Photo: Enda Corneille.
