Emirates launched its second daily A380 service from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Friday, touching down just shortly after 8:00pm local time on July 1.

With this expanded schedule, Emirates is now able to serve nearly 1,000 passengers travelling to Los Angeles each day. Also on the same day Vienna joined the family of A380 scheduled destinations served by an Emirates A380.

The Emirates A380 aircraft was decked out in specially-designed Dodgers branding to celebrate its expanded service to Los Angeles, as well as the airline’s sponsorship of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This sponsorship in conjunction with the second daily flight to Los Angeles, emphasises Emirates' commitment to sports, culture and the Southern California region.

The new flight EK217, operated by an Airbus A380-800 aircraft, is configured for three cabin classes with 14 private suites in First class, 76 seats in Business class and 401 seats in Economy class.

“We’re thrilled to continue growing our footprint in Los Angeles, the second largest city in the US, and to be able to provide more flight choices to more customers daily as well as doubling the economic benefits Emirates’ flights provide to Southern California,” said Rob Gurney Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, The Americas. “We strive to give our customers the best possible travel experience every step of the way through our award-winning service and industry-leading products.“

In addition to serving those visiting or traveling to Los Angeles, passengers wishing to travel beyond LA to nearby destinations in the US can take advantage of our partnerships with Virgin America and Alaska Airlines. For example, through Alaska Airlines, passengers can connect from LAX to cities such as Eugene, Mammoth Lakes, Monterey, Portland, Santa Rosa, and Guadalajara. Through Virgin America, passengers can travel onwards to Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Cancun and more.

The new Emirates flight EK217, departs Dubai daily at 3:00 pm and arrives in Los Angeles at 8:00 pm. The return flight EK218, departs Los Angeles daily at 10:30 p.m. and arrives in Dubai approximately 16 hours later at 1:30 a.m. This new service supplements the current EK215 Airbus A380-800 flight which departs Dubai at 8:55 a.m. and lands in Los Angeles at 1:55 p.m. The existing return flight, EK216, departs LAX 4:45 p.m. and arrives in Dubai 7:35 p.m. the following day. - TradeArabia News Service