Emirates to Fly Direct from Taipei to Dubai Starting Feb. 10, 2014
2014/01/03 | By Judy LiEmirates Airline recently announced that it will fly from Taipei to Dubai starting Feb. 10, 2014, becoming the first airline to offer non-stop flights between Taiwan and the Middle East.
Established in 1985 and based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Emirates Airline is the largest airline in the Middle East, operating nearly 3,400 flights per week from its hub at Dubai International Airport to more than 150 cities in 74 countries across six continents. In 2013 Emirates was chosen by Skytrax as the world's “best airline” and regarded as the world's fastest growing carrier.
Emirates will reportedly focus on Taiwan's transit market flying from Taiwan through the Middle East to Europe, with a manager of Emirates Taiwan indicating that transit passengers will likely take a lion's share of 80% of Emirates's potential passengers in Taiwan and the occupancy rate of this new route is estimated to be over 80% for the first year.
The manager says that Emirates will initially offer one weekly flight from Taipei to Dubai and passengers can transit from Dubai to Europe as the Middle East is geographically between Asia and Europe. He discloses that a return, economy-class ticket from Taipei to Madrid, Spain is NT$26,673 (US$889.1) and to Johannesburg, South Africa NT$32,990 (US$1,099.7), both being competitive compared to those offered by other airlines in Taiwan.
Other airlines in Taiwan flying non-stop from Taiwan to Europe include China Airlines, EVA Airways Corp., and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Among them, China Airlines flies five times weekly from Taipei to Frankfurt, Germany and three times to Vienna, Austria; while EVA flies direct to Paris, France and Amsterdam, Holland. The said two carries also fly to Europe with layover in Bangkok, Thailand.
Over last 25 years Emirates has been profitable and is ambitious to expand operations, having shaken in 2013 the aviation market by ordering for US$99 billion 200 airplanes including 150 Boeing 777-X and 50 Airbus A380. (JL)