Emirates has announced a third daily service on the Dubai-Cape Town route served by next-gen A350, bringing Emirates’ latest aircraft to the market for the very first time.
The deployment enhances travel options between South Africa and Dubai, with Emirates’ full suite of products and services available for customers to enjoy – from the iconic A380 and the fully-retrofitted Boeing 777 to the next-gen A350.
“With the deployment of the next-gen A350 on the third daily service between Dubai and Cape Town, South Africa becomes the only African nation on our network to be served by all three aircraft types on the Emirates fleet,” Emirates regional manager of Southern Africa Afzal Parambil said.
“This fleet mix provides the greatest flexibility for our customers to travel in and out of our three gateways, while still providing travellers with the world-renowned Emirates’ experience, on every flight.”
Emirates also announced additional A350 deployments on new daily services to Copenhagen and Phuket, offering customers greater connectivity alongside an elevated onboard experience, ahead of the anticipated surge in winter travel demand. The airline will deploy its Premium Economy retrofitted A380, Boeing 777 and A350 aircraft with the latest cabin interiors on more than 84 routes by 1 July, underscoring its focus on delivering a premium and consistent experience across its network.
Additional flights and capacity
From 1 June, Emirates is introducing a second daily service between Dubai and Copenhagen; a third daily service between Dubai and Phuket and the third daily to/from Cape Town comes into effect from 1 July. All three services are operated with the airline’s latest A350 aircraft, featuring its award-winning Premium Economy, in addition to the latest Business and Economy Class cabins.
From 1 June, Emirates’ flight EK153 departs Dubai to Copenhagen at 2:50pm, arriving at 7:45pm. The return flight, EK154, departs Copenhagen at 9:35pm, arriving in Dubai at 5:55am the following day. The new service is optimally timed to provide seamless connections from Copenhagen to popular destinations via Dubai, to East Asia including, Bangkok, Bali, Manila, Tokyo Haneda and Phuket as well as convenient links to Colombo and Male. In addition, the service introduces new connections to key African cities such as Nairobi and Entebbe.
Passengers travelling from key global cities, such as Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Delhi and Bangalore will also benefit from the additional frequency to the Danish capital, with convenient onward connection times through Dubai.
From 1 July, Emirates’ flight EK778 departing Dubai at 10:25am, arriving in Cape Town at 6:05pm; the return flight, EK779, departs Cape Town at 8:pm and arrive in Dubai at 7:25am the following morning. The third frequency offers travel options with optimised connections from/to London, Dublin, Bombay, Brussels, Australasia and key Asian markets, serving both leisure and corporate travel demand.
Emirates’ double daily Cape Town service has seen consistently high load factors over the past year, particularly during peak periods. Inbound demand from the GCC continues to grow, while outbound traffic to Europe and the US East Coast remains strong.
From 1 July, Emirates’ flight EK390 departs Dubai to Phuket at 10:40pm, arriving at 8:10am the following day. The return flight, EK391, departs Phuket at 10am, arriving in Dubai at 1:05pm. Travellers benefit from additional travel options to the popular resort destination, which offers an early morning arrival ideal for those connecting from Europe including Manchester, Amsterdam, London, Paris and Frankfurt as well as Kuwait and Bahrain via Dubai.
The new flight also provides convenient onward connection times from Phuket to key gateways across Europe and the Middle East, including Madrid, Munich, Birmingham, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Edinburgh, Zurich and Amman.
Planned Premium Economy route expansions
Africa
- Addis Ababa: From 1 March, the retrofitted 3-class Boeing 777-200LR operates daily on EK723/724.
- Cape Town: the third daily flight on the Dubai-Cape Town route, announced at the 2025 Dubai Airshow, now operates with a next-gen Emirates A350 from 1 July 2026.
Asia
- Cochin: From 29 January, two of the seven-weekly services (Thursday and Sunday) on EK530/531 between Dubai and Cochin operates with a retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR.
- Karachi: Starting 1 March, Emirates’ retrofitted three-class Boeing 777-200LR begins operating daily on EK606/607.
- Taipei: Emirates operates its retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR on the EK386/387 daily service from 15 March until 30 April and, from 1 May onwards, those services operate with the airline’s A350 aircraft.
- Phuket: A third daily service between Dubai and Phuket comes into effect from 1 July on EK 390/391.
Australia
- Brisbane: From 29 March, daily flights on EK EK430/431 will be operated by a retrofitted four-class Boeing 777-300ER, joining the A380 retrofitted service introduced last year.
Middle East
- Basra: The Thursday service on EK947/948 will transition to a retrofitted four-class Boeing 777-300ER from 29 January.
- Kuwait City: The EK859/860 daily service between Dubai and Kuwait City operates with a retrofitted Boeing 777 from 1 February until 30 April and from 1 May onwards the service will operate with an Emirates A350.
- Tehran: Effective 29 March, the retrofitted B777 in a four-class configuration operates daily flights on EK979/980.
