Emirates adds Delhi to A380 network, expands Premium Economy to six Indian cities

Premium Economy will be available across six Indian cities from October

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Dubai: Emirates will introduce its flagship A380 to Delhi from October 25, making the Indian capital its third A380 destination in India after Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The double-decker aircraft will operate on flights EK512 and EK513 in a four-class configuration, adding more premium seats on one of Emirates’ busiest India routes. The move also means passengers travelling between Dubai and Delhi will have access to Premium Economy across all daily services, including the A380-operated EK513 and Boeing 777 flights EK511, EK515 and EK517.

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The rollout comes ahead of a wider India upgrade that will take Emirates’ Premium Economy cabin to six Indian cities from October. The product will be available on flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Kochi, giving travellers more options across leisure, family and business journeys.

“Emirates' long-standing commitment to India is reflected in the continued rollout of our latest products, designed to enhance the travel experience," said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer. "We are pleased to introduce our highly anticipated A380 services to Delhi, a vital gateway in our network, from October. Given the strong demand for travel to and from India, it is an honour to expand our A380 footprint in the country, with Delhi joining Mumbai and Bengaluru as our third A380 destination."

Emirates said the A380 deployment to Delhi will complement its retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft on the route, which also offers a four-class layout with Premium Economy.

The cabin includes cream leather seats with more legroom and recline, dining served on chinaware and upgraded onboard amenities.

Kolkata to get A350 service

Kolkata will also see a major aircraft upgrade from October 25, with Emirates’ daily Kolkata-Dubai service, EK570 and EK571, moving from a Boeing 777 to the airline’s next-generation A350.

The A350 will bring Emirates’ signature cabin products, including Premium Economy, to the route. Flights EK572 and EK573, which operate five times weekly on a four-class retrofitted Boeing 777, will also offer Premium Economy, making the cabin available across all 12 weekly flights between Kolkata and Dubai.

By the end of October, passengers will be able to book Premium Economy on four daily services from Delhi, 12 weekly flights from Kolkata, 22 weekly flights from Mumbai, nine weekly flights from Ahmedabad, seven weekly flights from Bengaluru and two weekly flights from Kochi.

More India upgrades planned

The aircraft and cabin upgrades form part of Emirates’ wider investment in India, where it currently serves nine gateways with 167 weekly flights to Dubai and onward connections across almost 140 destinations.

The airline flies to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.

Emirates has also opened retail travel stores in Delhi and Mumbai, where customers can get support with products and bookings. Stores in Hyderabad and Bengaluru are set to follow, along with a dedicated call centre in Mumbai.

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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