Dubai-based Emirates today unveiled plans to boost capacity to Athens with the addition of a second daily flight to the Greek capital from March 1, taking the total weekly flights serving Athens to 14.

The flight will be linked to the existing Dubai-Larnaca route, allowing travellers to book tickets between the Cypriot city and Athens.

The Dubai-Larnaca-Athens service will be operated by a state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration, with eight Private Suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class, and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class.

"Emirates started serving Athens in June 1996; since then we have carried over 2.2 million passengers on the route. Boasting a rich history and picturesque islands, Greece is a popular destination for travellers from the UAE, Australia, China and South Africa. The expanded schedule will also enable more seamless connections for business and leisure passengers travelling from Athens to key destinations like Dubai, Manila, Johannesburg, Dhaka, Melbourne, and Hong Kong," commented Thierry Aucoc, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and Russia.

"By linking the new service to our existing Dubai-Larnaca flight, Emirates becomes the only airline to operate a wide-body aircraft on the popular Larnaca-Athens route," added Aucoc.

Customers on Emirates’ flights enjoy the hospitality of its multi-national cabin crew, including Greeks, as well as gourmet cuisine and Emirates’ award-winning ice entertainment system. With more than 2,000 channels of on-demand entertainment, from movies, television programmes, games, audio books, and music from around the world, ice has been named the world’s best inflight entertainment system by Skytrax for 11 consecutive years. As with all Emirates flights, passengers also enjoy generous baggage allowances: 50 kg in First Class, 40 kg in Business Class, and 30 kg in Economy Class.

Starting March 1, EK 107 will depart Dubai at 0750hrs, arriving in Larnaca at 1020hrs. It will then depart Larnaca at 1150hrs, arriving in Athens at 1335hrs. The return flight, EK 108, will leave Athens at 1615hrs, arriving in Larnaca at 1800hrs. It will then depart Larnaca at 1930hrs, and land in Dubai at 0125hrs the next day.

With an additional daily cargo capacity of nearly 20 tonnes in each direction, Emirates SkyCargo will connect customers in Greece with cities around the globe. Top exports include ship spares, fish, fur and leather goods, as well as pharmaceutical products. – TradeArabia News Service