Last week we announced that Emirates will serve Paris with the A380 next year. Now we can reveal that Rome and Seoul will join the growing list.
The Dubai carrier’s single daily flight out of Rome will be upgraded to an A380 operation starting on December 2, while the South Korean capital of Seoul will see the A380 on January 1.
Initially the 489-seat super jumbo will operate out of Rome four times a week (daily except Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) but from January 1 the A380 will operate daily. The service is currently flown by a smaller B777-300ER.
It’s understood the Rome service had been due to start in early 2010 but Emirates decided to bring the launch date forward, presumably to meet demand for travel to SE Asia and Australasia during the festive period.
The A380 will operate EK98 leaving Rome at 1430 to arrive in Dubai at 2300. Inbound flight EK 98 departs Dubai at 0925 to reach Rome at 1245.
As with the A380 services between Dubai and Paris CDG these timings are geared for onward connections out of the Gulf.
Flights to Seoul (also currently operated by a B777-300ER) rostered for the A380 will be EK322 leaving Dubai at 0300 with an arrival in South Korea of 1600, and EK323 which departs Seoul at 2355 to reach Dubai the next morning at 0505.
The Seoul flights are timed to connect well with services from and to the UK and mainland Europe.
Emirates has yet to officially announce these developments but flights are already bookable on its website.
For more information visit emirates.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
