Dubai: Emirates will launch a service to Madinah throughout summer, catering for increased demand during this peak travel period.
The twice weekly flights will be in place from July 2 to September 24, 2010, and will be operated by an Airbus A330-200. The service will be available in a three-class configuration including 12 first class, 42 business and 183 economy seats.
The Emirates flight will depart Dubai each Friday and Sunday at 0115 hours and will arrive in Al Madinah Al Munawarrah at 0300 hours. On the return journey the flight will depart Al Madinah Al Munawarrah at 0435 hours, arriving in Dubai at 0815 hours.
Ahmad Khoory, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran said: “This new, limited time, service means that Emirates will have four gateways into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across the peak summer holiday, ensuring we are able to sufficiently service the thousands of people travelling to and from the country on their summer holiday, and also those visiting as part of their pilgrimage.”
The airline began operations to the Kingdom in 1989, with flights to Jeddah. Since January 2009 Emirates has increased services to the country from 17 to 21 flights weekly.
In February, Emirates launched the Airbus A380 aircraft on to the Jeddah route – the first commercial A380 into the country.
Emirates currently operates 21 weekly flights to Saudi Arabia from three gateways, including Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
