Emirates boosts Southeast Asia services
Emirates is planning to increase its connectivity to and from Southeast Asia, with the launch of a series of new frequencies to the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
From 3 December 2012, the Dubai-based airline’s Kuala Lumpur flights will be increased from three times a day to 25 flights per week, rising to 26 per week from 6 February 2013.
Then from 1 January 2013, Emirates plans to add a third daily flight to the Philippine capital Manila, while a third direct daily service to Jakarta is expected to commence on 1 March 2013.
“The increase is due to strong demand from the region. The extra daily flights will increase capacity on the Jakarta and Manila routes by 50%. The increased capacity will also stimulate further tourism and trade between Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, UAE and beyond,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for the Far East & Australia.
The Manila and Jakarta services will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, while the KL flights will use an A330-200.
These moves form the latest phase of Emirates’ Southeast Asian expansion; earlier this year the airline commenced flights to Ho Chi Minh City and on 10 December it plans to launch its inaugural service to Phuket.