Strengthening its operations in West Africa, Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, has launched services to Abidjan, capital of Côte d’Ivoire, the airline’s 79th destination on its global network and its third gateway in the West African region after Lagos and Accra.
Nasser bin Kherbash, Emirates Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Africa, was at Dubai International Airport to see off the inaugural Abidjan flight.
Emirates flies four times a week from Dubai to Abidjan via Accra, every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Abidjan enhances the airline’s African network to 13 destinations in 12 countries.
Emirates operates an Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route, offering 12 First, 42 Business and 183 Economy class seats, as well as 17 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity.
Emirates’ services from Abidjan will provide Ivorian traders and businessmen access to new markets in the Middle East, Europe and Far East, via the airline’s hub in Dubai.
The new service will also help facilitate sharing of cultural experiences and stimulate international interest in Côte d’Ivoire’s investment and tourism opportunities.
Abidjan is a key component of Emirates’ West African expansion strategy and opens up the airline’s global network to large areas of West Africa including The Republic of Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Ivorian traders and businesses, keen to find new markets for their local products and services, can take advantage of Emirates’ strong presence in Europe, which includes 195 flights a week from the airline’s Dubai hub into19 gateways.
Côte d’Ivoire’s trade with Far East commercial centres like Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which provide Ivorian traders with a variety of commodities, will also be strengthened by Emirates’ services.
Through Emirates SkyCargo, the airline’s cargo division, the new service is poised to carry seafood and perishables including pineapples and mangoes to the Middle East and Europe, and to support Ivorian industry’s needs for garments, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electronics and automotive parts from India, China and the Far East.
Emirates flight EK 787 takes off from Dubai at 07:40 hours and arrives in Abidjan via Accra at 14:55 hours the same day. Emirates flight EK 788 departs Abidjan International Airport at 16:25 hours and arrives in Dubai via Accra at 06:15 hours the following day.
Emirates is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines and the second most profitable. Independent and financially self-sustained, Emirates operates an all wide-bodied fleet of 88 aircraft and has an order book including 45 Airbus A380s, and 62 Boeing 777s. By 2012 Emirates expects to have nearly twice as many aircraft in its fleet as it does today.
