DUBAI's Emirates airline recently stepped up service frequency to Beijing, eight months after starting flights to China's capital.
From May 1, the airline increased services from daily to 12 flights a week, owing to greater demand. The Dubai-Beijing route will be ramped up further to become a double-daily, non-stop service from July 1.
From May 1-June 30, flight EK308 will depart Dubai at 1110hrs, arriving in Beijing at 2300hrs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, an airline statement said.
Return flight EK309 will depart Beijing at 0650hrs Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, landing in Dubai at 1200hrs.
From July 1 to October 27, flights EK308 and EK309 will depart and arrive seven days a week at the same times given above.
Emirates will serve the second daily flight with an Airbus A340-300, offering 13 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity. With the second daily, the airline will be able to carry in excess of 180 tonnes of cargo to Beijing every week.
"China is the new economic powerhouse and the world is beating a path to its capital Beijing. Since the launch of our Dubai-Beijing route last September, we have experienced strong demand from countries on our network," said Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline. "We are in the business of creating convenient global air networks for both passengers and cargo, and the Olympic Games in 2008 will increase demand for our services to Beijing."
Emirates began services to mainland China in 2004 with services to Shanghai, providing capacity for 160 tonnes of cargo weekly. Emirates SkyCargo also serves Shanghai with six dedicated weekly Boeing 747-400F freighter services, offering an additional 720 tonnes of cargo capacity.
The airline also serves Hong Kong with 10 Boeing 747-400F freighter services, providing a total of 1,200 tonnes of airfreight capacity.
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