Emirates starts A380 service to Doha
aTP- Arab tourism portal News- Emirates on Thursday set an aviation milestone by launching the world’s biggest passenger aircraft on its shortest, scheduled sector ever.Covering 379km from Dubai to Doha in a total travel time of 1 hour and 20 minutes, the Airbus A380 aircraft landed at Hamad International Airport (HIA) on Thursday morning.Onboard were senior officials of Emirates, prominent members of the UAE business community and media persons.After landing, flight EK841 was taxiied into a water cannon salute and welcomed by key officials and trade guests at an Emirates reception at the terminal.
At the welcome event at Gate B3, Adil al-Ghaith, Emirates senior vice president, commercial operations (Gulf, Middle East & Iran); Ioannis Metsovitis, vice president operations, HIA; and MC Tariq Almutawa, Emirates manager, Qatar, spoke.To mark the launching of the new service, al-Ghaith and Metsovitis, together with other officials cut a cake.
After the passengers disembarked, officials and media persons were taken for a guided static tour of the double-decker aircraft to see some of the most iconic Emirates amenities, like the First Class Private Suites, Shower Spas and the popular Onboard lounge for First Class and Business Class passengers, which offers a wide range of drinks and canapés, as well as ample space to relax and socialize.
Flight EK 841 departs Dubai at 7.45am, arriving in Doha at 8.05am. The return flight, EK 842, departs Doha at 9.50am, arriving in Dubai at noon.“The timing of the A380 service means customers from Doha flying to popular destinations like New York, London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Manchester, Dusseldorf, Milan, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, can now enjoy a seamless A380 experience and also have a wider choice of an ‘all A380’ flight itineraries for their journeys,” said al-Ghaith.
“Making it the most served destination in the airline’s network, Emirates has steadily grown its presence in Doha and now operates with nine daily flights. Demand between Dubai and Doha is stronger and in the last five years Emirates has carried over 3.7mn passengers between the two cities,” he explained.
“The Emirates A380 serving Doha operates in a three-class configuration, with 429 seats in economy class on the main deck, 76 flat-bed seats in business class and 14 first class private suites on the upper deck.“With a choice of over 2,500 channels on-demand, including a wide selection of Arabic programmes, passengers in all classes can enjoy the multi-awarded ice digital widescreen in-flight entertainment system.
“The double-decker A380 is the world’s largest passenger aircraft in service, and has been tremendously popular with air travellers across the globe with its spacious cabins and quiet journeys.
“Emirates is the largest operator of Airbus A380 and currently has 86 of the aircraft in service and 56 are to join the fleet shortly. At present, the aircraft are deployed in a total of 45 sectors,” added al-Ghaith.
