Dubai: Shanghai welcomed its first scheduled Airbus A380 service yesterday afternoon, when Emirates flight EK302 from Dubai arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Shanghai has became the third destination in China for Emirates' A380, following the launch of services to Beijing and Hong Kong in 2010.
"This historic moment was made possible through the support and hard work of a number of dedicated organisations and individuals, particularly the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Shanghai Airport Authority," said Richard Jewsbury, Emirates Senior Vice-President of Commercial Operations, Far East and Australasia.
Next phase of growth
"The number ‘8' is considered the most fortuitous number in the Chinese culture. Now in our eighth year of passenger operations to Shanghai, we move to the next phase of our strong and valued partnership with the city of Shanghai and Greater China with the launch of Airbus A380.
"Trade and passenger traffic are symbiotic. A good demonstration of this is the China-Dubai relationship.
"In 2005, Emirates traffic to China was 159,000 passengers and there were 11 Chinese registered businesses in Dubai. In the years following, Emirates launched additional flights to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and grew passenger traffic to over 1.1 million.
"Today there are over 2,500 Chinese businesses registered in Dubai and UAE trade with China is projected grow from $30 billion (Dh110.1 billion) in 2010, to $100 billion by 2015," continued Jewsbury.
"We are thrilled to witness the arrival of Emirates' revolutionary A380 at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. This is an important milestone for us to further reinforce our position as a world class international hub.
"Emirates is an ideal partner to work with to achieve our aim of building up the airport into China's best, the world's first class and the most attractive core air hub in the Asia-Pacific region," said Jia Ruijun, General Manager of Shanghai International Airport Co Ltd.
The Emirates A380 will operate three days a week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) as EK302 departing Dubai at 3.10am (local time) and arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 3.30pm (local time).
The return flight EK303 departs Shanghai at 11.30pm (local time) and arrives in Dubai at 4.30am (local time) the following day.
Currently, Emirates operates double-daily services each to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and daily services to Guangzhou. EK302 and EK303 will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
