The airline will operate the route on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday using a Boeing 777 offering both economy and business cabins. Emirates plans to increase frequency to a daily service from September.
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Scottish agency Barrhead Travel, called Emirates’ decision to restart flights to Scotland a “real vote of confidence” for the industry.
The restart of the Glasgow-Dubai routes comes as the United Arab Emirates is due to move to the UK’s amber list on Sunday (8 August) as part of the latest review of the traffic light system.
“Dubai is one of our most popular long-haul destinations from Scotland and having access to the superb direct service that Emirates offer is really good news for the Scottish industry and for travellers," added Dobson.
“Crucially, it also opens up routes beyond the Middle East so having that service in place now will be important as more destinations reopen. We hope this signals the start of connectivity gradually returning to our Scottish airports.”
Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ chief commercial officer, said: “Emirates welcomes the decision to add the UAE to the UK’s amber list for international travel, reflecting the extensive steps that have been taken to mitigate the spread of the virus in the UK and UAE.
“Since the UK’s announcement, we’ve seen a huge surge in queries from customers desperate to travel to see their families, planning their kids’ return for the new school term, as well as their postponed business or holiday travel.”
While Mark Johnston, chief operating officer for AGS Airports Ltd, which owns Glasgow airport, added: “Emirates’ decision to restart the country’s busiest long-haul route is a significant step towards rebuilding Scotland’s vital connectivity and will be welcome news to our passengers.
“We are in the early stages of the safe restart of international travel, but there remains a long road ahead for aviation in the UK and the thousands of people employed within our industry.”
