Bangkok--5 Apr--Spark Communications
Thai passengers benefit from increased flexibility for trips to South African city
Emirates is to strengthen its commitment to South Africa with the launch of a second daily flight to Cape Town. The new service will offer passengers more choice and flexibility, as well as connect seamlessly to a wide range of onward destinations.
“South Africa and the United Arab Emirates enjoy a thriving trade and investment relationship and the launch of our second daily service to Cape Town will help boost this further by supporting new business and tourism opportunities,” said Richard Vaughan, Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations Worldwide.
“We have seen very strong inbound and outbound demand for our South African services over the last year. This new frequency will bring one of South Africa’s leading tourist destinations within easier reach for visitors, as well as meet the needs of our South African customers for enhanced connections from Cape Town to Europe, the Far East and a host of other points across Emirates’ extensive global network,” added Vaughan.
“We are pleased to announce greater options for Thai passengers traveling to Cape Town,” said Khalid Bardan, Emirates’ Area Manager for Thailand and Indochina. “The increased frequency of our flights improves connection time for passengers from Thailand, allowing them alternative travel times.”
Starting on the 27th March, Emirates will fly non-stop twice a day to Cape Town. The new service will be operated by an Airbus 340-500 aircraft in a three-class configuration, providing 12 luxurious First Class private suites, 42 angled lie-flat beds in Business and 204 generously-sized Economy Class seats.
Known for its dramatic natural skylines, amazing wildlife and being a melting pot of cultural influences, Cape Town is a hub of creativity and a magnet for artists and performers. It is estimated that the ‘Mother City’ attracted three million visitors in 2010, with almost 63 per cent coming from Europe.
While flying to Cape Town, passengers in all classes can experience the award-winning ice entertainment system, which features more than 1,200 channels of on-demand including the latest blockbuster movies, 100 TV channels, more than 500 audio channels, 100 video games plus real time news, sports and business headlines.
Flight EK772 will depart Dubai (DXB) at 03:50, arriving in Cape Town (CPT) at 11:40 the same day. EK773 leaves Cape Town at 13:40 and arrives in Dubai at 01:15 the following day, connecting seamlessly to key centres in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Sub-continent, Asia and the Far East.
The strengthening of Emirates’ South African routes comes after the airline helped to support the country's hugely successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As an official FIFA Partner, Emirates helped to bring the world to South Africa by flying in football fans from across its network of six continents.
Emirates currently serves 19 passenger and cargo destinations across the African continent. The new Cape Town frequencies will mean that the airline now flies 42 times a week to its three South African gateways: Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Extra Cape Town flights:
Effective from 27th March, the additional daily flight to Cape Town, EK 373, departs Bangkok at 2120hrs and lands in Dubai at 0030hrs. It connects with EK 772, which leaves Dubai for Cape Town at 0350hrs, arriving in Cape Town at 1140hrs. From Cape Town, EK 773 leaves at 1340hrs and lands in Dubai at 0115hrs the next day. From Dubai, the connecting flight EK 384 departs Dubai at 0315hrs and arrives in Bangkok at 1225hrs.