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Emirates Airlines adds Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City in its expanding international route network taking the total count of destinations served by the airline to 124. The airline will offer daily non-stop flights to the destination in a two class configuration.
As a part of its continuing expansion, Dubai based Emirates Airlines announced on Tuesday, inclusion of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City in its international route network. The airline revealed that it will offer a daily non stop flight from Dubai to Ho Chi Minh City from 4th June 2012.
The airline plans to initially operate outbound flight to Ho Chi Minh City and return flight to Dubai using an Airbus A330-200 in a two class configuration. However, from 28th October 2012 the airline will deploy a Boeing 777-300 ER in a two class configuration to operate the new route. The flights will have 27 Business Class seats and 251 Economy Class seats.
Emirates is to operate the daily non-stop flight as EK 390, which will depart Dubai International Airport at 0925hrs arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 1920hrs. The return flight To Dubai, EK 391, will depart Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 2050hrs and arrive at Dubai airportat 0045hrs the following day.
Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said, “Following the signing of the Air Services Memorandum of Understanding between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates in April 2011, we have been busy planning this route and it comes at a very exciting time for the airline, as our global network continues to expand.”
Mr Clark further added, “Emirates will offer tourists and business travellers, particularly from the Middle East, Africa and Europe, a convenient option to access Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most vibrant places in South East Asia and we are convinced that this will prove to be a highly popular route. We look forward to growing our partnership with Vietnam and would like to thank the Government and Airport Authorities for their support in the planning of our launch.”
Emirates news release reveals that the trade between Vietnam and UAE surmounted approximately US$24 million in 2010 and Emirates SkyCargo has been one of the key players in the Vietnamese market for a long time.
Much recognised Vietnamese exports like high-end tablet PCs, smart phones, printers garments, sportswear and shoes have been transported through Emirates Asian gateways like Bangkok,Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong on to Middle Eastern, European, African and American markets.
Although, more popular as a luxury full service airline, Emirates connection from Dubai to Vietnam is likely to be highly popular even with travellers looking for tickets on cheap flights for a chance to transit the swanky Emirates terminal in Dubai.
Additionally, the two class configuration with a high number of economy class seats means the airline has ensured higher availability of seats for travellers looking for cheap flights who can bag economy class tickets.
Home to over seven million people, Ho Chi Minh City is the airline’s 124th destination and eighth route launch in 2012. Other newly launched destinations by the airline are Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro (3rd January); Dublin (9th January); Lusaka and Harare (1st February); Dallas (2nd February) and Seattle (1st March).
Emirates Airlines currently flies to 117 destinations in 69 countries with its fleet of 168 airliners. The airline is already the largest A380 operator in the world, with a total of 20 A380 aircrafts operational.