Dubai-based carrier Emirates has penciled in a date to resume the second of three pre-pandemic routes to the British capital, London. The airline will resume flights from London Gatwick on December 10th. While the route used to be operated by the Airbus A380, the smaller Boeing 777 will be used when it relaunches.
While Emirates has been busy resuming routes worldwide, some of its destinations with multiple airports have lost out so far. This included the airline’s flagship destination, London, affected by severe travel restrictions on Dubai travelers for much of the first half of the year.
London Gatwick Return
From Friday, December 10th, Emirates will commence daily Boeing 777 flights between Dubai and London Gatwick. The airline will use its three-class 777s, featuring first, business, and economy. According to the airline, the daily flights will operate to the following schedule,
- EK 15 – Dubai International (DXB) 07:40 – London Gatwick (LGW) 11:40 – Eight hours
- EK 16 – London Gatwick (LGW) 13:35 – Dubai International (DXB) 00:40 – Seven hours and five minutes
Commenting on the return to Gatwick, Emirates’ CCO Adnan Kazim said,
“With the UK simplifying travel and accepting international vaccination certificates, we’ve seen a big surge in demand as people have been a lot more confident in booking trips for the coming months… Gatwick has long been a valued partner for Emirates and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard an Emirates flight soon.”
84 weekly flights to the UK
The seven weekly flights to London Gatwick are part of a much bigger United Kingdom network strategy. Across the nation, Emirates will fly to six destinations, including Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, and Glasgow.
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Before the pandemic, the UK accounted for around a quarter of the airline’s total capacity. Even more impressive, though, is just looking at the post-pandemic London Heathrow schedule on its own. In December, the airline plans to operate six round trips to the UK’s busiest airport each day. Each flown by an Airbus A380, the airline will be able to move thousands of passengers between the two cities each day.
Such a schedule has been long-awaited by Emirates. While it was actively restoring its UK network, the airline was dealt a massive blow in early 2021, when the UAE was placed on the UK government’s red list. This meant that Emirates was initially banned from non-stop flights, and any passengers that did come from the nation had to undergo ten days of hotel quarantine.
From October 4th, the UK will begin to accept vaccine certificates issued in the UAE. This means that travel will become even easier, with even more individuals eligible for quarantine-free travel from the country.
Are you excited to see Emirates returning to London Gatwick Airport? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!
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