AVIATION
Emirates' Airbus A380 arrives in Shanghai
Shanghai welcomed its first scheduled Airbus A380 service last week,
when Emirates flight EK302 from Dubai arrived at Shanghai Pudong
International Airport.
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A water canon salute greets the
Emirates A380 after it landed at Shanghai Pudong
International Airport, marking the start of the airline’s
A380 service to a third destination in China. |
Shanghai has become the third destination in China for Emirates'
A380, following on from the launch of services to Beijing and Hong Kong
last year. "This historic moment was made possible through the support
and hard work of a number of dedicated organisations and individuals,
particularly the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Shanghai
Airport Authority," said Richard Jewsbury, Emirates' Senior Vice
President, Commercial Operations, Far East and Australasia.
'The number '8' is considered the most fortuitous number in the
Chinese culture. Now in our eighth year of passenger operations to
Shanghai, we move to the next phase of our strong and valued partnership
with the city of Shanghai and Greater China with today's launch of the
Airbus A380."
"Trade and passenger traffic are symbiotic. A good demonstration of
this is the China-Dubai relationship. In 2005, Emirates traffic to China
was 159,000 passengers and there were 11 Chinese registered businesses
in Dubai. In the years following, Emirates launched additional flights
to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and grew passenger traffic to over
1.1 million. Today there are over 2,500 Chinese businesses registered in
Dubai and UAE trade with China is projected grow from US$30billion in
2010, to US$100 billion by 2015," continued Jewsbury.
"We are thrilled to witness the arrival of Emirates' revolutionary
A380 landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. This is an
important milestone for us to further reinforce our position as a world
class international hub. Emirates is an ideal partner to work with to
achieve our aim of building up the airport into China's best, the
world's first class and the most attractive core air hub in the
Asia-Pacific region," said Jia Ruijun, General Manager of Shanghai
International Airport Co., Ltd.
Emirates' A380 will operate three days a week (Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday) as EK302 departing Dubai at 0310hrs (local time) and arriving at
Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 1530hrs (local time).
The return flight EK303 departs Shanghai at 2330hrs (local time) and
arrives in Dubai at 0430hrs (local time) the following day.
Currently Emirates operates double-daily services each to Beijing,
Shanghai and Hong Kong, and daily services to Guangzhou. EK302 and EK303
will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and
Thursday.
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