Emirates Airline to Launch Flights Services to Beijing Using Airbus A380 Aircraft
August 8, 2010 | Airbus, Airline Flight, Airlines Companies, Aviation, Emirates Airlines
Emirates airlines has signalled its commitment to support the growing trade and tourism relationship between Kenya and China with the launch of the first scheduled Airbus A380 service to Chinese capital, Beijing.
The world’s largest commercial aircraft landed in the world’s most populous country on August 1, turning a new page in the Chinese Aviation history.
The 517 seat A380 operates as EK 306 departing Dubai daily at 04:10hrs, touching down in Beijing at 15:10hrs. The return flight, EK 307 takes off from Beijing Capital International Airport at 23:55hrs, landing at Terminal 3, Dubai International Airport at 04:20hrs the following day.
Commenting on the launch of the additional flight, Emirates’ Regional Manager for East Africa Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said: “We believe this comes as good news to both the trade and tourism sectors in Kenya. Trade between Kenya and China is on a steady rise, recording significant growth in the past few years.
Destinations like Southern China’s commercial capital Guangzhou have been popular with Kenyan traders and businessmen. Others like Beijing and Shanghai have been source markets for Kenya’s tourism. ”
The bilateral relations between Kenya and China have grown strong in the last few years with a remarkable improvement in trade balance between the two countries. Although trade imbalance is in favour of China, Kenya’s exports to the East Asia nation increased from $6.7 million in 2003 to $33.3 million in 2009, representing an average annual increase of 82.8 per cent over the six-year period.
Kenya’s major imports from China include textile, machinery, electronics and footwear. Exports include cut flowers, tin ores and concentrates.
Mr Ahmad also noted that the number of Chinese visitors to Kenya has increased and that China remains one of Kenya’s key emerging markets with high potential for growth.
“The number of Chinese visitors to Kenya has been increasing ever since Chinese government granted Kenya an ‘Approved Destination Status’ in 2004 and Kenya remains the destination of choice for Chinese tourists in this region. We believe the additional flight will support the growing demand for air travel to and from China through our capacity enhancements,” Mr. Ahmad added.
Kenya Tourism Board has a strong representation in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Currently Emirates operates double-daily services each to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and daily services to Guangzhou.
The Airbus A380 is the most environmentally advanced commercial aircraft in the world, its lighter and stronger structure results in an up to 20pc less fuel burn per seat than today’s largest aircraft types. Low fuel burn means lower CO2 emissions, and the A380 produces less than 75g of CO2 per passenger kilometre, almost half of the European target for cars manufactured in 2008 and better than most modern small cars on a per passenger basis.
The airline’s fleet of 11 A380s are currently operating on services from Dubai to London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Beijing, Jeddah, Sydney and Auckland.
