Emirates ready for Bangalore

EXPANSION: Emirates Airline, currently expanding its presence in India's booming and economically strong southern region, is gearing up for the launch of its eight-flights-a-week service to Bangalore, starting October 29.

At present, Emirates serves South India with 31 weekly flights to Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram, offering over 8000 seats and 500 tonnes of cargo capacity.

An Emirates delegation, led by Nabil Sultan, Senior Vice President Commercial Operations West Asia and Indian Ocean, and comprising representatives of various brands under the Emirates umbrella, is currently in Bangalore to introduce the Dubai-based airline's award-winning product and service to 400 travel and cargo agents.

"Emirates teams in Bangalore and Dubai are working round the clock to ensure a smooth and seamless start of our local operations," said Nabil Sultan.

The undisputed IT nerve-centre of Asia, Bangalore, is home to more than 1600 tech firms, including international heavyweights IBM, Intel, Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Compaq, Accenture, and Indian IT majors Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Microland.

According to statistics released by Software Technology Parks of India, Bangalore clocked export revenues of USD 1.6 billion in the five months to August 2006, with exports to Europe and North America growing consistently at 20 per cent.