Athens Welcomes Emirates’ Flagship Airbus A380

Emirates A380 at Athens International Airport.

One off flight in response to surge in demand

Emirates A380 at Athens International Airport.

“Athens is a very important destination for Emirates and the long-standing tourism and business relationship between the UAE and Greece confirms its significance,” Mohammad Sarhan, Emirates Area Manager for Greece & Albania, said on the occasion of the airline bringing its flagship Airbus A380 to Athens International Airport for a one off commercial flight on Sunday 15 September.

Almost a year after the first ever A380 scheduled service to Athens and further marking Emirates commitment to the Greek market, the A380 service was carried out in response to a surge in passenger demand.

“We are honored to receive such interest from Greek passengers and our main priority is to satisfy the existing demand for Athens as a tourism destination,”  Mr. Sarhan said.

Emirates has had a long-standing affiliation with Greece and the country is an important market for the airline. In its 17-year presence in the Greek market, Emirates has contributed to country’s inbound and outbound tourism, by way of the airline’s extensive global network.

For the first eight months in 2013, Emirates carried more than 120,000  passengers on the Athens-Dubai route. In the months of April and May of this year, Athens reported the highest growth in passenger loads, reporting an increase of 25 percent and 64 percent, respectively.

In May, the service from Dubai to Athens was upgraded to a Boeing 777, increasing its capacity by 60 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Emirates, with the capacity growth and Emirates scheduled flights for the next month booked with more than a 90 percent seat factor, the optimistic scenario for Greece’s inbound tourism in 2013 is yet confirmed once again.

Emirates is the world’s largest operator of the A380. In addition to its 36-strong fleet, the airline has a further 54 A380s on order.