Emirates boosts Airbus A380 Dubai-London with sixth daily flight
By Chris C., February 12 2016
Qantas partner Emirates will add a sixth daily flight between its home hub of Dubai and London’s Heathrow Airport from next month.
The new EK31/32 service – which has yet to be officially announced but can now be booked on Emirates' website – is slated to begin from March 27 on a Boeing 777-300ER and toggle to an Airbus A380 from June 1.
EK31 departs Dubai at 11:30am to reach London at 4:10pm that afternoon, while the return EK32 flight is wheels-up from Heathrow at 7:50pm for a 5.50am arrival into Dubai the following morning.
The new flight slots in halfway between Dubai's mid-morning and early afternoon departures to London but won't impact connecting Qantas passengers on the QF1/2 and QF9/10 flights.
The Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A380s both offer first class suites:
AusBT review: Emirates Boeing 777 first class, Melbourne-Singapore
Business class comes in 2-3-2 'angled flat' seating for the first few months on the Boeing 777…
… but the A380 upgrade brings with it a far superior experience with fully-flat seats in a more pleasing 1-2-1 layout:
AusBT review: Emirates A380 business class, Sydney-Dubai
That’s joined by an inflight bar and lounge at the rear of the A380’s upper deck for both business class and first class passengers…
… and an on-board ‘shower spa’ for guests flying high in first class:
An Emirates spokesperson confirmed the airline's new flights and schedule to Australian Business Traveller, noting that the service comes as "a direct response to the continued strong demand on the route".
The new flights also boost Emirates’ tally of return London Heathrow flights to eight – all served by A380s including two return codeshare flights operated by Qantas – plus three daily return flights from Dubai to London’s Gatwick Airport.
Also read: Emirates to fly Auckland-Dubai non-stop
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
11 Aug 2015
Total posts 23
Well done on this and glad it will become an A380 flight. How did they get the slots. If they can fill the plane it's a no brainer but if they can't why do this? In my opinion this is Emirates overload and they have enough flights to London already. But well done on getting those presious Heathrow slots!!!!
14 Apr 2014
Total posts 46
Where did they get it from? WHERE?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 54
Now I know QANTAS lease slots to BA..but could it be Qantas?
who no longer has a flight into Heathrow....there is the answer.
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 269
What do you mean about Qantas on this route?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 54
Well...Qantas is currently using 2 Slots at Heathrow...they Own 6. The other Four are leased to BA.
Heathrow has a 99% capacity at the moment and no free slots. I was wondering if Qantas is now leasing a Pair to Emirates.
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 269
But that would mean all 6 is used up by Non Qantas Airlines, are you suggesting Qantas are pulling out of London?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 54
No...Qantas are using 2 Pairs of Slots...Morning and Afternoon, they own more but are leasing them out.
I was asking if Qantas Leased the Slot to Emirates.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 54
https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/43990-air-france-klm-sell-heathrow-slots-to-emirates-oman-air
Now its in the news!
03 Aug 2015
Total posts 58
Just amazing that a route can be serviced by 8 A380's per day, or close to 4,000 seats per day, over 5500 if you include Gatwick thats around 2 millions seats a year!
Does anyone know what the load factors are, like F-Flyer i assumed that had enough now!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Jun 2014
Total posts 209
[Deleted by admin - off-topic]
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2013
Total posts 144
Don't forget, Emirates and other gulf carriers rely on the sub continent to fill up their economy seats. It is cheaper to fly via middle east to europe, north america than direct from india.
29 Mar 2014
Total posts 78
Surprised they managed to get ahold of slots at LHR, especially so soon after GA secured its own slots at Heathrow just weeks ago, and with such similar timing too (GA reported it had scored an evening arrival/dep slot).
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
27 Jun 2013
Total posts 40
Quite an unfortunate choice of flight number from Emirates if it was inadvertent!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 54
Huh?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
27 Jun 2013
Total posts 40
Hey Chap - I'm meaning that out of all the flights numbers available to Emirates - they choose the two that were old QF31/32 codes. You can see above all the Qantas skeptics out in force wondering if EK are taking over the QF leg (or landing slots)!
They could have chosen any other two flight numbers and no one would have had a second thought.
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