Spurred by increased trade and commerce, and reciprocal Open Skies Policy, Emirates will escalate its service to the Kingdom of Bahrain with the introduction of a third-daily flight, bringing Gulf Co-operation Council members, UAE and Bahrain a step closer. The move, marking the second largest air service between the two countries, closely follows the Dubai-based airline’s launch of three additional flights to Bahrain in June 2007.

Effective 1st September, Emirates will operate an early morning service to Bahrain, every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, adding to the carrier’s existing daily morning and evening departures. For the additional service, Emirates will deploy the popular A330-200 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 27 Business and 251 Economy Class seats, alongside 13.6 tonnes of cargo capacity.

The extra flights will offer Bahrain’s business travellers increased connectivity to the Americas and Europe, and stimulate greater leisure travel to holiday hot-spots in the Far East and Australasia.

Emirates flight EK 835 will take off from Dubai International Airport at 02:30 hours, and touch down in Bahrain at 02:45 hours. Return flight EK 836 will depart Bahrain at 04:00 hours and arrive in Dubai at 06:10 hours, offering seamless connections to over 40 international gateways in less than three hours.

The flight schedules will also boost business traffic into the emirate, owing to early morning arrivals in Dubai and same-day late evening return to Bahrain.

In an environment of increased economic interaction, Dubai’s exports to Bahrain climbed to USD 76 million in 2006, placing the Kingdom among Dubai’s top 20 export partners. Tourism also registered a healthy boost, and almost 78,000 room nights in Dubai’s hotels were taken up by Bahraini residents in 2006.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran stated:

“There is a growing demand for air travel services between Bahrain and cities in America, Europe, the Indian sub-continent and Far East. Emirates is delighted to start its third-daily operation, which is being introduced at an opportune time as the airline readies to launch new gateways in the Americas and Europe, and add additional frequencies to its existing routes in the Indian sub-continent.”

‘We will further ease travel for expatriates working and living in Bahrain by revising the schedule of our evening flights to facilitate better connections,’ added Nabil. Effective 28th October, EK 840 will depart Bahrain at 17:50 hours on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, arriving in Dubai at 20:00 hours, in time to connect to almost 50 flights bound for the Indian sub-continent. ‘With the revised schedule, travellers need no longer stopover in Dubai for a day to catch their connecting flights.’
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