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- Dubai 04:27 05:45 12:20 15:47 18:49 20:07
Dubai-based Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, showcased its products at a key travel show for the first time in Saudi Arabia to mark 25 years of launching flights to the lucrative market in the Gulf Kingdom.
Saudi newspapers said the government-owned Emirates participated for the first time in the annual travel show that opened in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday and brought together tourism and travel operators from scores of countries.
“Emirates said it would use the show to brief the participants and visitors on the latest developments in its operations, performance, plans and fleet as well as the new terminal which is assigned for the Airbus A380 at Dubai airport,” the Saudi daily Ajel said, quoting Emirates Saudi bureau director Mohammed bin Hafez.
He added:”Saudi Arabia is an important market for Emirates and is the only country in the region in which we operate our A380 fleet…we operate 69 non-stop flights a week to four major Saudi cities—Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina…our passengers from Saudi Arabia can benefit from Emirates’ massive network which covers 132 destinations in 77 countries in all continents.”
He said Emirates would mark this year its 25th year of service to Saudi Arabia as it launched its first flight to the western Red Sea port of Jeddah in 1989. It expanded flights to cover Riyadh in 1990, Dammam in 1993 and Medina in 2010.
“Emirates became the first carrier in the world to operate flights by the giant Airbus A380 to Jeddah in 2010,” Hafez said.
He noted that Emirates pushed ahead with expansions in 2012 with the launching of new flights to 15 new destinations worldwide. It launched two new flights to Warsaw and Algiers this year to boost its total destinations to 132, he said, adding that the airlines plans to operate three new flights to Japan, Philippines and Sweden this year.
His figures showed Emirates’ fleet includes 200 aircraft and the company has become the largest operator of Boeing 777 and Airbus A380.
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