Emirates to operate next-gen A350 on the third daily service to Cape Town, its first deployment in Southern Africa

 

Emirates (www.Emirates.com) will continue rolling out its retrofitted Boeing 777 and new A350 aircraft to key destinations across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia, bringing Premium Economy and its latest onboard products to more cities across its network.

The recently-announced third daily service on the Dubai-Cape Town route will now be served by an A350, bringing Emirates latest aircraft type to the market for the very first time. The deployment enhances travel options between South Africa and Dubai, with Emirates’ full suite of products and services available for customers to enjoy – from the iconic A380 and the fully-retrofitted Boeing 777 to the next-gen A350.

Commenting on the deployment, Emirates’ Regional Manager of Southern Africa, Afzal Parambil said, “With the deployment of the next-gen A350 on the third daily service between Dubai and Cape Town, South Africa becomes the only African nation on our network to be served by all three aircraft types on the Emirates fleet. This fleet mix provides the greatest flexibility for our customers to travel in and out of our three gateways, while still providing travellers with the world-renowned Emirates’ experience, on every flight.”

Emirates also announced additional A350 deployments on new daily services to Copenhagen and Phuket, offering customers greater connectivity alongside an elevated onboard experience, ahead of the anticipated surge in winter travel demand. The airline will deploy its Premium Economy retrofitted A380, Boeing 777 and A350 aircraft with the latest cabin interiors on more than 84 routes by 1 July, underscoring its focus on delivering a premium and consistent experience across its network.

Additional flights and capacity to Copenhagen, Phuket and Cape Town

From 1 June, a second daily service will be introduced between Dubai and Copenhagen; a third daily service between Dubai and Phuket and the third daily to/from Cape Town will come into effect from 1 July. All three services will be operated with the airline’s latest A350 aircraft, featuring its award-winning Premium Economy, in addition to the latest Business and Economy Class cabins.

From 1 June, Emirates’ flight EK153 will depart Dubai to Copenhagen at 14:50hrs, arriving at 19:45hrs. The return flight, EK154, will depart Copenhagen at 21:35hrs, arriving in Dubai at 5:55hrs the following day.** The new service is optimally timed to provide seamless connections from Copenhagen to popular destinations via Dubai, to East Asia including, Bangkok, Bali, Manila, Tokyo Haneda and Phuket as well as convenient links to Colombo and Male. In addition, the service introduces new connections to key African cities such as Nairobi and Entebbe. Passengers travelling from key global cities, such as Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Delhi and Bangalore will also benefit from the additional frequency to the Danish capital, with convenient onward connection times through Dubai.

From 1 July, Emirates’ flight EK778 departing Dubai at 10:25 hrs, arriving in Cape Town at 18:05 hrs; the return flight, EK779, will depart Cape Town at 20:00 hrs and arrive in Dubai at 07:25 hrs the following morning. The third frequency offers travel options with optimised connections from/to London, Dublin, Bombay, Brussels, Australasia and key Asian markets, serving both leisure and corporate travel demand.

Emirates’ double daily Cape Town service has seen consistently high load factors over the past year, particularly during peak periods. Inbound demand from the GCC continues to grow, while outbound traffic to Europe and the US East Coast remains strong.

From 1 July, Emirates’ flight EK390 will depart Dubai to Phuket at 22:40hrs, arriving at 08:10hrs the following day. The return flight, EK391, will depart Phuket at 10:00hrs, arriving in Dubai at 13:05hrs. Travellers will benefit from additional travel options to the popular resort destination, which offers an early morning arrival ideal for those connecting from Europe including Manchester, Amsterdam, London, Paris and Frankfurt as well as Kuwait and Bahrain via Dubai. The new flight will also provide convenient onward connection times from Phuket to key gateways across Europe and the Middle East, including Madrid, Munich, Birmingham, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Edinburgh, Zurich and Amman.

The airline will also operate its A350 to Rome and Taipei from 1 May.

Planned Premium Economy route expansions:

Africa 

• Addis Ababa: From 1 March*, the retrofitted 3-class Boeing 777-200LR will operate daily on EK723/724.
• Cape Town: the third daily flight on the Dubai-Cape Town route, announced at the 2025 Dubai Airshow, will now operate with a next-gen Emirates A350 from 1 July 2026.

Europe&North America

• Barcelona and Mexico City: Emirates will operate its EK187/188 service with a retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from 1 February. EK255/256, the linked service between Barcelona and Mexico City, will operate with a Premium Economy retrofitted three class Boeing 777-200LR daily from 15 February* onwards.
• Rome: The EK099/100 daily service will operate with A350 aircraft from 29 March.
• Copenhagen: Addition of a second daily service from 1 June with an Emirates A350, as EK153/154.           

Asia

• Cochin: From 29 January, two of the seven-weekly services (Thursday and Sunday) on EK530/531 between Dubai and Cochin will operate with a retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR.
• Karachi: Starting 1 March*, Emirates’ retrofitted three-class Boeing 777-200LR will begin operating daily on EK606/607.
• Taipei: Emirates will operate its retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR on the EK386/387 daily service from 15 March* until 30 April and, from 1 May onwards, those services will operate with the airline’s A350 aircraft.
• Phuket: A third daily service between Dubai and Phuket will come into effect from 1 July on EK 390/391.

Australia

• Brisbane: From 29 March, daily flights on EK EK430/431 will be operated by a retrofitted four-class Boeing 777-300ER, joining the A380 retrofitted service introduced last year.

Middle East

• Basra: The Thursday service on EK947/948 will transition to a retrofitted four-class Boeing 777-300ER from 29 January.
• Kuwait City: The EK859/860 daily service between Dubai and Kuwait City will operate with a retrofitted Boeing 777 from 1 February until 30 April and from 1 May onwards the service will operate with an Emirates A350. 
• Tehran: Effective 29 March, the retrofitted B777 in a four-class configuration will operate daily flights on EK979/980.

Tickets can be booked on www.Emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents as well as Emirates’ retail stores.

* Aircraft deployment may be advanced if released earlier from refurbishment.

** All times are local.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Emirates Group.