Emirates relaunched daily services from Stansted today, adding the carrier’s ninth flight a day from London to Dubai.
Gulf carrier Emirates had planned to restart the service five days a week and go daily from September, but the strength of demand led it to move straight to a daily service.
The service was suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, having been launched in 2018.
Emirates divisional vice president for the UK Richard Dewsbury told Travel Weekly: “UK demand is so strong.”
The carrier is already operating six daily, 500-seat A380 flights from Heathrow to Dubai, two daily flights from Gatwick, two daily services from Manchester, two daily from Birmingham, a daily flight from Glasgow and five flights a week from Newcastle.
From October, it will add a third daily flight from Manchester, making 110 flights a week.
Dewsbury said: “The intention is to get back to where we were.”
The Stansted return and third daily flight from Manchester will take the airline to “around 75% of the way back to our 2019 schedule from the UK”, said Dewsbury: “That is 7,500 seats a day.
He added: “The UK is one of our most important markets and it has bounced back very well.”
Further flights could be added early in the new year. Dewsbury said: “We’ll see where demand is. It’s a case of making sure everything is in place to operate reliably.”
“Gatwick will probably get more capacity in the New Year and we’ll see how the rest of the UK network develops.
“We’re keen to build back at Glasgow. We’ve been a little cautious. We’re adding back capacity as we’re certain we can make it work.”
Dewsbury pointed out Emirates has escaped most of the disruption that has hampered the sector’s recovery from the pandemic, saying: “Our schedules have been very strong. We haven’t had to take out any flights.
“We’re working with Heathrow to make sure everything is in place for us to operate.”
He added: “It’s great to bring Stansted back. We aim to have a comprehensive network from the UK and the trade appreciates that. We’ve both grown successfully.
“We know our trade partners are pleased we’ve had a robust schedule. They’ve not had to deal with the cancellations they’ve had to deal with elsewhere.”
Emirates’ first Boeing 777-300 flight to Dubai from Stansted since March 2020 is due to depart at 21:00.