Double daily Madrid flights as of 1st July 2012
Emirates launched flights to Barcelona on 3rd July as part of a tripling of services to Spain.
The airline's daily flight to Madrid went double daily on 1st July and coupled with the brand new Barcelona route, the carrier now offers three flights a day into the country.
The VIP delegation aboard today's first flight to Barcelona included Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation; Hiran Perera, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Cargo Planning & Freighters; Brigadier Obaid Mehayer Bin Suroor, Deputy Director of Dubai Naturalisation & Residency Department; José Eugenio Salarich, Spain's Ambassador to the UAE and representatives from the media.
Passengers booked from 20 countries, including the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Indonesia, also joined the inaugural flight.
"In the space of 48 hours, Spain has shot up our list of most served European countries, said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation. "Connecting Spain to our network with three flights a day from what was a daily flight to Madrid is a major boost to our operations and underscores our commitment to the Spanish market."
In Barcelona, Fernando Suárez de Góngora, Emirates Country Manager for Spain, hosted a welcoming reception attended by Sonia Corrochano, Director, Barcelona El Prat Airport and Damià Calvet i Valero, Territory and Mobility Secretary of the regional Catalan government.
With the new Emirates' service between Barcelona and Dubai, the Catalan capital gets connected to one of the most important cities and regions for business worldwide," said Mr Damià Calvet. "Emirates has valued Barcelona and its airport as a good opportunity within its global growth strategy. To Barcelona and the Catalonia region, this route also represents an opportunity for the globalisation of Catalan enterprises and for the region's economy, key elements to get over the economic crisis."
Emirates will serve Barcelona with a 777-300ER offering 360 in a three-class configuration. Staffed by highly trained, multi-lingual cabin crew, the aircraft offers luxurious First Class Private Suites, lie-flat seats in Business Class and a new generation of comfort in Economy Class.
While relaxing and enjoying gourmet chef prepared food, passengers can lose themselves in over 600 channels of movies, TV programmes, games and music featured on the ice entertainment system.
EK 185 will depart Dubai at 0655hrs and arrive in Barcelona at 1200hrs. EK 186 will take off daily from Barcelona at 1640hrs and land in Dubai at 0100hrs the following day.
From Barcelona, passengers will be able to connect through Emirates' traveller-friendly Terminal 3 in Dubai to popular destinations such as Mumbai, Delhi, the Seychelles and Mauritius and Manila. They will also be able to pick up Emirates' flagship aircraft, the A380 to places such as Jeddah, Tokyo, Beijing and Sydney.
Emirates SkyCargo has been operating freighter flights to Spain since 2006, supporting the movement of clothes, one of Catalonia's main exports to the Gulf.
Emirates Holidays, the airline's tour operating arm, offers tailor made holidays to Barcelona, including a selection of hand-picked hotels that are among the best accommodation in the city. Its annual brochure, A World of Choice, highlights many of Barcelona's attractions such as the Sagrada Familia Cathedral by the famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi; the Gothic and El Born Quarters; Las Ramblas; and the Passeig de Gracia.
Photo captions:
Picture 1 - The Catalonia flag hangs from the cockpit of Emirates' inaugural flight to Barcelona with Spanish First Office Fernando Arevalo on the flight deck.
Picture 2 - Emirates' flight 185 after touching down on its inaugural flight to Barcelona.
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