Emirates has touched down in Lyon, celebrating the airline’s third destination in France and fourth new European destination this year. 

 

Serviced by an Airbus 340-500 in three cabin classes, Emirates’ flights to Lyon will offer a total of 258 seats including; 12 First Class Suites, 42 seats in Business Class and 204 seats in Economy Class. 

 

The addition of this new five times a week Emirates service will see an overall capacity increase of 12 per cent in France, further boosting the airline’s presence in this important international market, said a statement.  

 

The delegation on board the inaugural flight to Lyon included Alain Azouaou, French Ambassador to the UAE, Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ executive vice president passenger sales worldwide, Richard Jewsbury, Emirates’ senior vice president, CO Europe & Russian Federation, Pradeep Kumar, Emirates’ senior vice president cargo revenue optimisation and systems, Eric Giraud-Telme, French consul general in Dubai and Claude Valle, President of French Business Council Dubai & Northern Emirates and prominent members of the business community and representatives from the media.  

 

“The South East of France has been on our radar for some time. Lyon, as the second largest metropolitan area in France, is a strategically important market that is incredibly viable in terms of potential traffic flows through to our vast network of 49 destinations in the East, including ten points in India. We are confident that our new service will provide much needed capacity to the city’s thriving commercial centre, one of the largest economies in Europe,” said Antinori.

 

“Our extensive destination list and all wide-bodied fleet will ensure that traffic in both directions is well stimulated. The strong interest and support in Emirates from the people of Lyon and the surrounding provinces is an excellent marker of the success we expect from this new destination,” he added.

 

Feeding the underserviced Lyon region, Emirates is the first international carrier to provide direct services from Lyon to Dubai as well as key commercial hubs in the East, an important link for facilitating new trade opportunities. 

 

Business traffic to and from Lyon is expected to have a strong tie to the city’s banking, pharmaceutical and biotech industries which have helped to make the Rhone-Alps region, which Lyon is the capital of, the sixth largest economy in Europe.  

 

Emirates flight EK81 departs Dubai every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 1455hrs, arriving in Lyon at 1940hrs the same day. The return journey leaves Lyon at 2100hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0615hrs the next day. - TradeArabia News Service