Emirates is entering the winter travel season with strong booking momentum after carrying more than 8.6 million passengers during July and August, as the airline continues to expand its network, upgrade its fleet and enhance customer flexibility.

The airline is currently operating at around 93% of its pre-disruption capacity, with winter bookings tracking positively despite a broader trend towards travellers making reservations closer to departure.

 Demand is currently ahead of last year in markets including South Africa, Brazil, India, Portugal, Egypt, Ghana, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, while Nepal is also benefiting from Emirates’ partnership with flydubai.

The UAE remains a strong outbound market, while demand for Emirates’ premium products continues to increase.

Strong summer performance

Emirates recorded seat load factors above 75% across services to and from West Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa during summer. Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire and the UK were among the strongest-performing markets.

Premium Economy demand also increased across the network, with the Americas recording the strongest growth in demand for the cabin.

Dubai continued to attract strong inbound traffic. More than 500,000 customers arrived in the city on Emirates flights in late August alone, representing a 7% increase compared with the same period last year.

Arrivals included returning residents, people relocating to Dubai for work and visitors taking late-summer holidays.

During the summer, Emirates expanded its flexibility offering by introducing one free date change across its network and unlimited free date changes for journeys to Dubai.

The airline also reduced refund fees on Dubai journeys and introduced Comprehensive Travel Cover, including medical protection against conflict and airspace disruption, as well as airline-managed accommodation, ground support and rebooking where required.

Fleet and product upgrades accelerate

Emirates has continued to invest heavily in its fleet. Since January 2026, the airline has received 18 aircraft, comprising 11 new Airbus A350s and seven Boeing 777 freighters.

A further six A350s are scheduled to arrive before the end of December.

The airline’s retrofit programme has now covered 104 aircraft, including 53 Boeing 777s and 51 A380s.

This brings the number of aircraft featuring Premium Economy and Emirates’ latest cabin products to 137, with the figure expected to reach 155 by the end of the year.

Premium Economy is currently available on services to 90 destinations, with six more destinations due to receive the cabin before year-end, including Paris, Delhi and Stockholm.

Connectivity is also being enhanced, with almost 50 Emirates aircraft now equipped with Starlink high-speed inflight internet.

Installations are continuing alongside the wider retrofit programme.

The airline has also introduced several new products this year, including U-dream headrests in A350 Economy Class, privacy dividers for Premium Economy seats and next-generation signature lounges.

New lounges have already opened in Munich, Frankfurt and Manchester.

Network expansion ahead of winter

Emirates will expand its network and increase frequencies as the winter season begins. Helsinki will join the network on October 1 with A350 services.

The aircraft currently serves 30 destinations from Dubai, with that figure expected to reach 36 by the end of the year.

Additional capacity is also being introduced on several routes.

Accra, Tokyo Narita, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will receive second daily services, while one of Emirates’ daily Delhi services will be upgraded to an A380.

The A350 will also be deployed to Larnaca, Malta, Nairobi and Hamburg from late October, followed by Mauritius in November.

Retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft will begin operating to Stockholm in October and Frankfurt in November, extending the airline’s latest cabin products to additional markets.

Partnerships strengthen global connectivity

Emirates’ network is further supported by 168 codeshare, interline and intermodal partnerships, giving customers access to an additional 1,750 cities.

 More than 13,000 Emirates passengers connect to destinations on partner airlines on an average day.

The partnership with flydubai remains central to the Dubai hub, providing access to more than 214 unique destinations across more than 100 countries and generating more than 4,600 connection opportunities through Dubai.

Emirates customers can access more than 100 flydubai destinations, while flydubai passengers can connect to more than 140 Emirates destinations.

Kathmandu, Zanzibar, Krabi and Belgrade are among the most popular flydubai destinations for Emirates customers.

Since the partnership began in 2017, the two airlines have carried more than 28 million passengers across their integrated network.

flydubai has also continued expanding its network in 2026, adding Chittagong in Bangladesh in April, Benghazi in Libya in June, and Aleppo in Syria and Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport in July.

Pokhara in Nepal is scheduled to join the network in September.

With rising demand across key international markets, continued fleet investment and expanded connectivity, Emirates is entering the winter season with a broader product offering and growing capacity across its global network. -TradeArabia News Service