Dubai-based state-owned airline Emirates has started operating flights to Mexico City starting from December 9, 2019.
While Emirates has been eyeing Mexico for quite some time, the carrier had to go through a legal battle to win the flying rights. Emirates will fly to Mexico through Barcelona, Spain.
Yesterday, Emirates flight EK255 departed at 3.30 am local time from Dubai to its destination in Mexico City. The aircraft that flew to Mexico is a newly refurbished two-class Boeing 777-200LR which offers 38 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 layout, and 264 seats in Economy Class.
The flight carried over 300 passengers, media personnel and a group of VIPs. The high profile delegation that boarded Emirates’ inaugural flight to Mexico includes Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice president Commercial Operations for the Americas; Ahmed Hatem Barghash Al Menhali, UAE Ambassador to Mexico, and Francisca Elizabeth Méndez Escobar, Mexican Ambassador to the UAE.
In an interview during the inaugural flight, Salem Obaidalla said, “Emirates is the first Middle East carrier operating from the Middle East to Mexico. After our study, we saw that Mexico was not tapped by any Middle East carrier.”
He added, “We saw the opportunity to go and enter that market and there is a huge business for both passenger and cargo that will add more revenue for our company. And on top of that one, it will link Dubai with Mexico City via Barcelona.”
Two months ago, a Mexican court blocked Emirates from launching its services to Mexico City. In response, Emirates appealed to the Mexican government that earlier gave its approval to the carrier to fly to Mexico City.
However, that was not the only hurdle that the airline has to pass through. Earlier, Emirates planned to fly to Mexico through Zurich, but authorities in Switzerland did not approve of the move.