Dubai: Emirates celebrated the New Year in a "big" way, by becoming the first airline to operate a scheduled Airbus A380 service to Malaysia.
The airline's flagship, operating as EK346, piloted by Malaysian national Captain Kwong Yung Ling arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Sunday afternoon to a traditional welcome of a water canon salute.
Joining Captain Kwong on the flight deck for the first flight was First Officer Abdulaziz Alusaimi from the United Arab Emirates.
"We have been eagerly awaiting the start of our Airbus A380 service to Malaysia, a country that we have been operating flights to since 1996. I am sure that this historic milestone in both Malaysian aviation history and in the Emirates story will further strengthen ties between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to promoting trade and tourism opportunities between the two nations," said Richard Jewsbury, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East & Australasia.
"The start of 2012 will be a busy time for Emirates, in addition to launching our A380 aircraft on one of our three daily non-stop flights between Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, we are also expanding our network to include Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in South America from 3rd January and Dublin in Ireland from 9th January, opening up more opportunities for Malaysian travellers and businesses," Jewsbury said.
The 489 seat A380 operates as EK346 departing Dubai at 04:05hrs and arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 14:55hrs on the same day. The return leg, EK347, will depart Kuala Lumpur at 19:30hrs arriving in Dubai at 22:30hrs also on the same day.
Emirates' A380 service arrives in Dubai at a convenient time giving passengers the options of onward connections to any of Emirates' expanding list of over 116 European, Middle Eastern, African and American destinations.
The Airbus A380 is the most environmentally advanced commercial aircraft in the sky. The A380 burns up to 20 per cent less fuel per seat than today's next largest aircraft.
Low fuel burn means lower C02 emissions and the A380 produces only 75g of C02 per passenger km, almost half of the European emissions target required for cars manufactured in 2008.
The airline's fleet of 20 A380s are also currently operating on services from Dubai to London, Sydney, Auckland, Bangkok, Toronto, Paris, Seoul, Jeddah, Beijing, Manchester, Hong Kong, New York, Shanghai, Munich, Rome and Johannesburg.
