Emirates will double its capacity at Stansted airport with the additional of a second daily Dubai flight.
The new flights will get under way on July 1, growing the airline’s daily flights to London’s three main airports to 11.
New flight timings, meanwhile, will open up a wider, more convenient range of connections to Emirates passengers.
Flights will be operated by Boeing 777 aircraft in a three-class configuration featuring six private first class suites, 42 fully-flat business class beds and 306 economy seats.
Starting July 1, Emirates’ first daily flight to Stansted will depart Dubai at 9am, arriving at 1.30pm. The return flight will depart Stansted at 3pm, arriving Dubai at 1.05am (+1).
The second will depart Dubai at 2.15pm, arriving Stansted at 6.45pm. Return flights will depart Stansted at 9.10pm, arriving Dubai at 7.10am (+1).
“We are increasing capacity to London Stansted to meet steady demand from both leisure and business travellers to and from the region, as well as international student traffic to Cambridge,” said Hubert Brach, Emirates divisional senior vice-president commercial operations west.
“We continuously seek ways to maximise convenience and flexibility for our customers and the second daily flight combined with the optimal travel schedules will do exactly that,” he added.
Emirates says the additional flight will maximise UK inbound tourism from Australia, the UAE, India, South Africa, China, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Outbound, destinations such as Brisbane, Melbourne, Male, Seychelles, Bali, Singapore, Colombo, Bangalore and Bangkok all fall within a two-and-half-hour connection time.
Ken O’Toole, Stansted chief executive, added: “The announcement Emirates is to double capacity on its Dubai service is fantastic news for passengers and is a vote of confidence in both London Stansted airport and the east of England.
“Since day one, this route has been extremely popular with passengers flying direct to Dubai but also taking advantage of the 150 onward connections available from the hub and today’s announcement is further evidence of the rising demand that exists for more long-haul services from Stansted.”