Oil Boom Fuels Need For More Flights

Emirates is set to increase connections to Africa with flights to Angola, its 17th African destination.

The Dubai-Luanda service, which begins August 2, will operate three times a week -- on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Operating the Airbus A330-200, the new Emirates service will help support the nation's oil-led boom, the emerging tourism market and the thousands of migrant workers, many of whom are from China.

"This new Luanda flight provides enormous potential to develop air travel into Angola, alongside the assistance we can provide for international trade through Emirates SkyCargo," said airline president Tim Clark. "In the past year, we have seen a strong 17% growth in Africa. With the addition of Luanda starting in August and Durban later this year, it will be another very exciting year in this largely untapped continent."

Angola, around five times the size of the UK, lies on the Atlantic coast of south-central Africa. It is the continent's second largest oil exporter after Nigeria. With four major ports along an expansive coastline, the nation is a natural transhipment point for the region. The country has abundant natural resources including oil, diamonds, gold, iron, copper and uranium.

The timing of the flight from Dubai allows convenient connectivity with arrivals from Emirates' points in Asia and Australia, while the flight into Dubai provides smooth connectivity with all our departures to Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

Emirates SkyCargo will provide up to 12 tons of cargo capacity in the bellyhold of each aircraft with imports expected to include consumer goods, electronics, telecommunications products and oil related equipment and spares. Perishables, such as fruit and flowers, are expected to feature amongst exports.

This is the second new route into Africa announced by Emirates this year with flights to Durban, South Africa starting on October 1. The Dubai-based airline started flights to Africa in 1986, serving Cairo. Around 4,000 Africans are now employed throughout the Emirates Group.

FMI: www.emirates.com/usa