Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers. This month: flight options from Dublin to Dubai, and beyond.
January sees Dubliners gain another option for the Gulf and further afield. Dubai’s national carrier, Emirates, was set to launch a daily service between Dublin and Dubai on January 9, providing the possibility of making dozens of onward connections throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia.
The new Emirates service will aid Irish business people in their global sales missions. It will encourage inbound investment and tourism and will also link the many Irish communities around the world.
Right now, Etihad is the only other carrier that flies to the Middle East from Ireland. It flies ten times a week from Dublin to its home base of Abu Dhabi and, like Emirates, provides many onward connections. The difference between these two rivals is that Emirates has a larger network and operates the A380 superjumbo.
Emirates knows its service will appeal to travellers all over Ireland, not just those in the Republic. That is because passengers departing from Dublin pay lower tax rates compared with those departing Belfast.
Departure tax from Dublin is €3 for any long-distance flight. Contrast that with the UK government’s air passenger duty (APD) out of Belfast, which comes in at £120 per passenger for a premium ticket to Dubai, with economy class priced at £60. Head further afield to Delhi and the rates increase to £150 and £75 respectively. Continue to Singapore, Sydney or Auckland and the APD rates leap to £170 and £85.
So flying out of Dublin rather than Belfast benefits travellers in two ways. First, Emirates’ prices from Dublin are cheaper (because passengers avoid the cost of the Bmi/Flybe Belfast-Heathrow/Gatwick connection) and second, you avoid paying APD.
The savings have been noticed by canny travellers in Northern Ireland. US carrier United Continental, which operates between Belfast and New York, warned the UK government that it might have to suspend its service (the sole direct long-distance route out of Belfast) because it was becoming unviable. United Continental found that a significant number of passengers were shunning its transatlantic Belfast flight in favour of options out of Dublin, which is about a two-hour drive from Northern Ireland’s capital.
Anxious not to lose Belfast’s only long-haul service, the UK government listened and, as a special exception, cut the level of APD to the short-distance rate in November 2011. However, the reduction applies only to direct long-haul flights, so passengers flying out of Belfast but changing planes en route must pay the higher APD rates.
What Emirates offers
There will be a daily service operated by a three-class A330-200 aircraft. First class consists of 12 cradle-style seats configured 2-2-2, and there are 42 seats in business disposed 2-3-2 – these are also cradle style, with slightly less recline than in first. The 183 economy seats adopt a 2-4-2 layout.
Inbound flight EK161 departs Dubai at 0700 and lands in Dublin at 1130. Return flight EK162 leaves at 1255 and arrives in the emirate very early the next day at 0025.
A minus point is that premium passengers do not get to experience the most up-to-date product on the A330. Out of Heathrow, for example, Emirates operates its larger B777s and A380s, some of which have fully-flat seating in business class. Select A380s have suites in first class.
On the other hand, passengers who choose their onward flights from Dubai carefully could encounter the newer premium products. Note that flying into Heathrow from Dublin or Belfast with either Aer Lingus or Bmi does mean experiencing a one-class and fairly basic service, plus a change of terminals on arrival in London.
Prices
The most recent seat sale was to end on November 30, but another is bound to take its place once Emirates evaluates its forward bookings. When Business Traveller checked online prices with emirates.com for a midweek flight (incorporating a Saturday-night stay) from Dublin to Dubai, we were quoted rates starting at €509 for economy, €1,824 for business and €3,663 for first class. It is worth noting that the amount of taxes, fees and charges in all classes amounted to just over €34.
By contrast, Emirates’ through-fares out of Belfast City to Dubai via Heathrow (using one-class Bmi to make the connection) worked out at £618 for economy, £2,689 for business and £3,489 for first class. The taxes, fees and charges amounted to £113 for the economy ticket and £189 for business and first class.
Alternatives
Besides Emirates, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic via Heathrow, there are connections available with Aer Lingus and KLM via Amsterdam, Air France via Paris Charles de Gaulle, Lufthansa via Frankfurt and Swiss via Zurich.
