Emirates expanded its UK reach on Friday with the start of daily flights from Stansted to Dubai.
Stansted is now the seventh UK airport served by the airline which now offers ten flights a day to the Gulf from three different London airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick.
It is the first time an international airline based in the Middle East has operated from the Essex airport, providing connections to Emirates’ global network of over 155 destinations via its hub Dubai.
Emirates is deploying a three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route including first class suites and revamped business and economy cabins.
The daily flight from Stansted departs at 9.10pm and is due to arrive in Dubai at 7.05am local time. The return leaves Dubai at 9.30am and arrives at Stansted at 2.10pm local time.
Emirates divisional senior vice president, commercial operations west, Hubert Frach, said: “We decided to add London Stansted to our network because we saw an opportunity to directly connect the local community with some of the world’s most popular leisure and business destinations.
“Previously, London’s north-east, and the wider 7.5 million people that live within Stansted’s catchment areas, had to travel into the city, or further, to access airports with global reach.
“There’s been a real appetite for increased connectivity between the thriving business community in the east of England and our global network too.
“The new gateway will support the swell of new start-ups, SMEs and established businesses in the London Stansted Cambridge corridor by giving them access to new cities and countries across the globe.”
More than 25 of the world’s largest corporations have established operations in the wider Cambridge and Peterborough area, including Airbus, AstraZeneca, ARM and GSK.
Airport chief executive Ken O’Toole, London Stansted’s CEO, said: “In 2018 Stansted is set to be the fastest growing London airport and a key enabler of economic growth for both the UK and east of England, and the addition of the new Emirates service will provide a further boost to our long haul ambitions and ultimately save local passengers valuable time and money that is associated with flying from other airports across London.”