Dubai’s Emirates boosts flight frequencies to Madagascar

Dubai: Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, announced Wednesday plans to introduce additional flights to Madagascar starting April 2. The airline will now operate six-weekly services instead of the four-weekly services it has been operating since its launch in September 2024. The expanded schedule between Dubai and Antananarivo, linked via Mahe, will operate on all days except Mondays.

The operation boost is in response to strong demand for its passenger services between Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital city, and Dubai.

“With the current four weekly flights operating at near full capacity, the significant uplift to the number of seats offered on the route will support Madagascar’s efforts to increase visitor arrivals into the country while also providing more choice and convenience for travellers to plan trips to and from the popular Indian Ocean destination,” the airline said in a statement.

Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates’ Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for West Asia and Indian Ocean, said, “Our growing flight schedule to the island means better connectivity, more choice and convenient options for travellers.”  

“Enhancing services will also strengthen the economic ties between Madagascar and the UAE by supporting more inbound and outbound leisure and business travel to the island and bolstering trade lanes with additional cargo capacity,” added Ahmad.

To meet seasonal demand, Emirates also recently temporarily increased its services from four to five weekly flights, and the new frequency represents a significant boost to its operations and capacity on the route.

Dr Manambahoaka Valéry F. Ramonjavelo, Minister of Transport and Meteorology, said, “Since February 2024, we have accelerated the strengthening of trust between the UAE and Madagascar, and the air connectivity provided by Emirates contributes to these ties being built between our two countries.”

Meanwhile, Madagascar’s Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, Viviane Dewa, added, “The arrival of Emirates, with direct flights to Madagascar, has been a breath of fresh air for our tourism sector. This flight has connected our island to over 140 destinations worldwide, thereby opening up new opportunities for promoting Madagascar as a destination.” The island nation aims to reach one million tourists by 2028.

Over the past few months, Emirates said it has experienced strong demand from the UAE, Sri Lanka, France, the UK, mainland China, Japan, Spain, and Italy to Madagascar. From Madagascar, travellers have mainly ventured to Dubai, the hub city of Emirates, in addition to Seychelles, France, India, Sri Lanka, Italy and Japan.