Emirates currently has three daily flights from New York's JFK to Dubai. The Dubai-based carrier launched services to Shanghai in April of 2004. The demand on the route began on a strong note and continued to grow steadily thereafter. Emirates currently operates a Boeing 777-300ER daily to Shanghai with 364 seats in a three-class configuration ' 12 seats in First Class, 42 in Business and 310 in Economy ' and nearly 25.5 tons of belly-hold capacity.
'Emirates' current daily service to Shanghai has been exceptionally successful and we are an airline of choice right across our customer spectrum ' both passenger and trade,' said Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates' Executive Vice President Commercial Operations Worldwide. 'From Shanghai, we currently offer excellent connections to Africa and Europe; the route is served by state-of-the-art aircraft.'
As a nerve center for trade, commerce and business, the city is a must-visit destination for executives who conduct, or plan to conduct, business with China.
Trade and tourism ties between China and Dubai have grown significantly stronger in the past few years. Since Emirates' launch to Shanghai, the number of Chinese hotel visitors in Dubai has more than doubled from 32,265 in 2004 to 68,504 in 2006. Trade ties are worth billions of dollars, and in 2006 China grabbed the top spot among Dubai's importing countries, nudging India to second place. Dubai imported $7.6 billion USD worth of Chinese goods and exported in excess of $134 million to China.
Emirates SkyCargo also operates six weekly Boeing 747-400F freighter services to Shanghai, offering a capacity of 132 tons each. In China, besides Shanghai, Emirates also serves Beijing with a double daily service, and Hong Kong with 17 weekly passenger flights and 13 weekly freighter services.
