Emirates ready for January take-off in Dublin

IRELAND’S ONLY route between Dublin and Dubai is to commence on January 9th when Emirates beings a daily service to the UAE city. Emirates’ executive vice-president Thierry Antinori said at a reception in Dublin yesterday to officially announce the route that bookings were going “very strongly.”

Some 60 to 70 per cent of passengers on the route will travel on to destinations such as Australia, Hong Kong and India.

The service will also carry 15 tonnes of cargo space, which will transport exports to the Middle East.

Emirates SkyCargo, the air freight division of Emirates, is already active in Ireland, primarily transporting goods through Manchester and London.

Emirates will be directly competing with Ethiad, which has been operating a direct service between Dublin and Abu Dhabi, since 2007.

Aer Lingus will provide catering for the route, while Servisair is the ground handler, the airline confirmed yesterday.

Emirates, which is owned by the government of Dubai, said it had “no immediate plans” to open an aircraft lounge in Terminal 2 at Dublin airport, although it will announce next week details of a sharing agreement with another airline.

Rival airline Ethiad, which already operates a route to Abu Dhabi in the UAE, opened a premium lounge at Dublin airport earlier this year.

Aer Lingus began operating a route to Dubai in 2006, but ended it two years later. Ethiad set up its route to Abu Dhabi in 2007.

Emirates, which employs 250 Irish staff in Dubai, will employ 25 people, including cabin crew, in Dublin.

It is understood that the airline benefited from the Dublin airport Authority’s incentive scheme to encourage new long-haul routes, which offers discounts of up to 100 per cent on passenger charges.

The route will be served by an Airbus A330-200 and will offer three cabin classes – first, business and economy.