A senior delegation from Emirates, one of the world's fastest
growing airlines, officiated a roadshow in Beijing Tuesday to
introduce its services in preparation for the launch of its daily
non-stop service from Dubai to Beijing on September 1.
Senior executives
Edwin Lau (L)?and Richard Vaughan (R)
Senior executives representing Emirates included
Richard Vaughan, senior vice president in charge of commercial
operations in East Asia and Australasia, and Edwin Lau, the
airline's regional manager for Greater China and Northeast
Asia.
Since its establishment in 1985, Emirates has won more than 300
international awards in recognition of its customer service,
reportedly one of the best in the industry. It is the world's third
most profitable airline, and is among the fastest-growing and 20
largest international civil aviation companies.
According to Vaughan: "China's eminence in today's world
economic order is well established and recognized. The addition of
the Beijing service, our second Chinese mainland route, is a clear
illustration of our ongoing confidence in and commitment to the
country.
"The new route will help foster greater business, tourism and
cultural exchanges between Beijing and Dubai -- both symbols of
phenomenal growth and strategic vision. Our roadshow in Beijing is
the perfect warm-up for the launch of our services in
September."
In 2005, bilateral trade volume between China and the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) was worth US$10.77 billion, an increase of more
than 32 percent compared to 2004. A great number of Chinese
business travelers are already familiar with the UAE, while in
Dubai there's a great deal of interest in rapidly-growing
Beijing.
"Given the existing synergies between the UAE and China,
starting a direct service to Beijing was the next logical step for
Emirates," Vaughan added. He said that the new direct flight
services will facilitate travel flow in both directions and will
encourage a greater exchange of business, tourism and culture.
Beijing will be Emirates' third destination in China, after Hong
Kong and Shanghai, and the 18th in the Asia Pacific region.
Vaughan hinted that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Asian Games
in Doha, Qatar, at end of this year will greatly promote Emirates'
new business in Beijing. Emirates is no stranger to grand sports
events, having sponsored many including the recently concluded FIFA
Football World Cup in Germany.
Page Wang, public relations spokesperson for Emirates, told
China.org.cn that the new Dubai-Beijing service demonstrates the
airline's ambitions and commitment to China market.
"We anticipate a strong year and profitable operations with
relatively high load factors. Now that Europe and more than 10
African countries are open to Chinese visitors, travel agents have
Emirates as their carrier of choice," she said.
"In addition, Dubai is introducing its own tourist attractions
to the Chinese. It is a well-integrated destination that combines
Arabian traditions and a cosmopolitan life. Furthermore, in
accordance with World Trade Organization commitments, the China
travel market was open to 117 countries by the end of March 2006
and will gradually open to more."
Describing Emirates' competitive advantages, Wang said:
"Emirates is based in Dubai, one of the few places in the world
that has an open-skies policy. Currently, more than 110 airlines
operate there in free and fair competition. For Emirates, our
success lies in an efficient cost structure combined with top-notch
customer service and a focused core management team that has been
together for many years. We have a young, dynamic and well-trained
workforce, and the company's culture strongly encourages creative
solutions to business challenges.? We have invested in an
ultra-modern fleet with high-end technology that also contributes
to our efficiency."
Emirates' growth has been above 20 percent a year on average. It
has been profitable for the last 18 years consecutively. It carried
14.5 million passengers in the 2005-06 financial year -- 2 million
more than the year before -- and declared a record US$674 million
profit, an increase of 2.8 percent over the previous year, on
revenue of US$6.6 billion.
Edwin Lau announced that the new Beijing office, which boasts
the largest ticketing counter of all international airlines in the
city, is open for business.
Lau said: "The office will also handle all queries and bookings
related to our divisions such as Emirates SkyCargo, our frequent
flyer program Skywards, the leisure and holiday division, Emirates
Holidays, and Dubai's premier ground tour operator Arabian
Adventures."
According to Lau, Emirates will ply the Dubai-Beijing route in
an Airbus A340-300 offering 267 seats -- 12 in First Class, 42 in
Business and 213 in Economy -- and 13 tons of cargo capacity.
Passengers can look forward to Chinese movies for entertainment,
and a wide-ranging menu serving up dishes including dim sum, Indian
curry and steak.
Emirates started flying to Hong Kong in 1991. Shanghai was next
with its SkyCargo weekly freighter service between Dubai and
Shanghai in September 2002. This was increased to six flights a
week in October 2005.
In March 2004, Emirates opened its Shanghai Representative
Office, which was followed by a thrice-a-week passenger service in
April. Daily flights were added just two months after.
According to Wang, the Dubai-Shanghai service is doing well, the
last several months seeing full occupancy.
She declined to disclose figures and would only say that the
Asia Pacific region is an important market for Emirates, accounting
for 30 percent of the airline's total revenue, and 32 percent of
the total cargo carried.
If Beijing operations prove successful, Vaughan indicated that
two more destinations in China could be opened at a later date.
From Emirates' hub in Dubai, passengers and cargo from China can
quickly and conveniently connect to the airline's 23 destinations
in North America and Europe, 14 in Africa, and 13 in the Middle
East.
Emirates is still waiting for more than 100 aircraft to be
delivered, including 45 A380 super jumbos, worth approximately
US$28 billion in list prices. On July 17, Airbus announced that
production issues were the cause of the delay.
Emirates held the
press conference at China World Hotel, Beijing on July
18
?Beijing
team:? Cargo Manager Nancy Lai, Edwin Lau, Richard Vaughan and
Sales Manager Adam Li (from L to R except for
stewardesses)
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Zhang Rui, July 20, 2006)
