Dubai's national carrier Emirates has launched a scheduled daily service to Kiev, marking its first route to the Ukraine, its 35th destination in Europe.

Emirates flight EK171 departed yesterday from Dubai International Airport at 1710 with a VIP delegation on board, including: Thierry Antinori; the executive VP and chief commercial officer, Thierry Aucoc; the senior VP (Commercial Operations) for Europe and Russian Federation; Abdul Salam Hareb Al Romaithi, the UAE Ambassador to the Ukraine; Polurez Yuriy, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Ukraine to the UAE; Petro Holoveshko, the Consul General, Consulate of the Ukraine, Dubai; Oleg Fidelskiy, the president of AAL Group; Olexandr Lukyanov, the regional director, Motor Sich; Khalid B Al Falasi, the deputy director, Contracts and Purchasing, DTCM; Serge Zaalof, the president and managing director, Atlantis the Palm, Dubai and  Hiran Perera, the senior VP, Cargo Planning and Freighters, Emirates SkyCargo.

On arrival at Kyiv Boryspil International Airport, the aircraft was met by a senior delegation from the Ukraine, including: Valentin Zgurskiy, the head of Aviation Transport Department, Ukraine Ministry of Infrastructure and  and Sergey Gomboleskiy, the deputy general director, Boryspil International Airport , which was followed by a welcome reception and gift exchange ceremony at the airport.

“We are very positive about our new service between Kiev and Dubai, and we believe this daily air link will further stimulate the growing business and tourism opportunities between both cities,“ remarked Thierry Antinori.

“Over 150,000 Ukrainians a year visit the UAE and we know Dubai is a popular choice for Ukrainians, who appreciate the world-class accommodation, dining and entertainment venues, warm weather and clean sandy beaches. Now they will have greater choice - access to Emirates award-winning service and gourmet food and for the first time on this route a First Class cabin option,” stated the official.

"Passengers on every Emirates Airbus A340-500 can enjoy 12 luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 deeply reclining Business Class seats and plenty of room to relax in Economy Class, with a total of 204 seats," he added.-TradeArabia News Service