By IANS,
Dubai : Emirates Airline, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), plans to increase its flights to Angola and South Africa later this year and will organise promotional activities in both the countries ahead of the launch, the WAM news agency reported.
Flights to the South African city of Durban will start Oct 1, while new services to the Angolan capital of Luanda will begin Oct 25, the airline said in a statement Thursday.
The launch of flights to Durban will supplement the daily services to Cape Town and Johannesburg, it said.
A number of road shows will be organised between July 22 and Aug 23 at various towns and cities in South Africa, such as Umhlanga, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Knysna, George, Cape Town, Polokwane and Bloemfontein, before wrapping up in Johannesburg a month later.
Despite the current economic crisis, the Emirates saw an increase in its annual sales. South Africa is one of the strongest performing markets.
John Felix, senior vice president, Emirates Holidays, said: “South Africa is one of our top revenue markets and its important for us to get out there and reinforce our brand presence. It’s also an opportunity for us to build relationship, make new contacts and fine-tune our products based on market feedback so we can ensure that our customers are getting the very best service and value for money.”
“A road show of this size is particularly significant in these tougher economic times and very much demonstrates our commitment to the industry, our partners and our clients,” he added.