Emirates has announced that it will operate repatriation flights to five major Indian cities between August 20 and August 31st, 2020, the media reported.
The five Indian cities that Emirates will fly to are Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.
These special flights are announced by Emirates to facilitate travel for Indian citizens in the UAE wishing to return home, and for residents of UAE currently in India to return to the UAE.
Recently, Emirates announced that it is expecting to return to full capacity by this time next year. Earlier this year, Emirates was forced to ground all of its flights as UAE government banned passenger flights to curb the spread of the COvid-19 virus.
Emirates’ COO Adel al Redha told the media, “I think we can easily say by Summer ’21 we will be serving 100 percent of our network destinations. That means 143 destinations will be served by summer ’21. Obviously the frequency of flights per day will depend on demand.
Even though Emirates is planning to fly to 143 destinations by next year, the number of flights flying to these destinations may not be the same as it will take longer for air demand to reach pre-Covid-19 levels again.
The Dubai-based carrier has been pushing to swap more of Boeing’s behemoth 777X jets, of which it has ordered 115 for 787 Dreamliners, according to Bloomberg.
The airline is shifting its focus on smaller aircraft rather than jumbojets as air demand has plunged heavily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I think Boeing would prefer to deliver the 777s before 787 because that is a new program for them,” Al Redha added.