New Dubai-Phuket flights
Emirates yesterday started its first non-stop flight from Dubai to Phuket, a route in which it hopes to maintain a cabin factor of 85-90 per cent via a more aggressive marketing.
If demand grows, the carrier is likely to launch a second daily flight to the island or it might start using larger aircraft to serve rising demand.
However, the plan will proceed step by step and the firm will take at least a year to study the options, Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice president for commercial operations for Far East and Australasia, said yesterday.
The airline has used its strong global network of 128 destinations in 74 countries to increase its capacity via a flight-connectivity strategy. At present, its aviation base is in Dubai, from where it can connect to 33 European cities.
Emirates’ inaugural flight, EK378, landed at Phuket International Airport yesterday at 9.55pm. The daily service uses an Airbus A340-300, with a maximum capacity of 267 passengers and three-class service. The carrier said the first flight was 95 per cent full. Some 70 per cent of the passengers were from Europe.
Phuket is the airline’s 128th destination and the service will significantly boost the island’s international flight capacity.
"The launch of our , daily service between Phuket and Dubai coincides with the upcoming festive season, and Phuket is a favourite destination for many holidaymakers," Obaidalla said.
Manit Boonchim, executive director for Europe, Africa and the Middle East at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), welcomed Emirates’ move and said the new flights would help strengthen Phuket as a global tourism destination.
More important, he said, the number of tourists from the Middle East and Europe will rise as travellers find it more convenient to fly here.
Emirates flies to Dubai from secondary cities such as Manchester in England and Lyon in France, and those passengers can now save more time by not having to pass through Bangkok to get to Phuket, he added.
The TAT executive said 630,000 Middle East tourists were expected to visit Thailand this year, some 150,000 of them from the UAE.
Next year, the number is projected to reach 670,000.
Emirates has operated in Thailand for more than 21 years. The airline currently operates from Bangkok with 28 flights per week to Dubai, seven to Hong Kong and seven to Sydney.
