“This week we will be carrying our two millionth passenger from Dublin to Dubai and onwards since we started the route in 2012,” Enda Corneille, Country Manager, Emirates, told 50 media representatives enjoying the excellent Emirates Dubai Brunch at the Dean Hotel in Dublin, writes Ian Bloomfield.
With load factors of up to 97% and continuing to grow every year, Emirates is a spectacular success in the Irish market and, having once again won ‘Best Long Haul Airline’ and ‘Best Business Class Airline’ at the Irish Travel Trade Awards last month, the feel good factor was very evident.
“Emirates is now one of the largest and most profitable airlines in the world,” added Enda. “We recently introduced a new service to Phnom Phen in Cambodia, as well as our fully enclosed, 40 sq ft First Class private suites on our new B777-300ER aircraft and we have 40 B787 Dreamliners on order.”
Referring to cargo, he said: “You would never guess what’s under you feet when you fly with Emirates! Last week, for example, we flew 25 tonnes of butter to New Zealand and tonnes of Botox to Australia. We also carry a lot of Irish racehorses, but some were getting sick and we established that the bar on their enclosures was too high, which meant they were not able to lower their heads enough to clear their throats, so we lowered the bars – followed by Melbourne Cup wins!”
The festivities included shisha pipes, prizes of vouchers and bottles of champagne, and a Christmas cracker for ‘everyone in the audience” with one containing a voucher for two Economy Class tickets to Dubai – which was won by ITTN’s News & Features Editor, Neil Steedman!
