Emirates has given a new meaning to the expression ‘Time flies’ with its plans to launch flights to the “birthplace of watch making” – now just eight weeks away.
Geneva will be added to the airline’s European route network from 1st June. Last night, more than 600 guests from the travel industry and the city’s wider business community attended a high profile road show event in Geneva as an introduction to the airline and its home of Dubai.
For many, it provided an opportunity to get close up to the airline’s flagship A380 aircraft, which has already carried more than 4 million Emirates passengers around the world.
A First Class Private Suite was also on show at the city’s Palexpo for guests to sink into, as were life-size replicas of the Onboard Shower Spa and Onboard Lounge.
The Dubai-Geneva service will be operated by a combination of Boeing 777-200LR and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The aircraft will be arranged in a three-class configuration, offering First Class Private Suites, lie-flat seats in Business Class, and a spacious cabin in Economy Class.
Throughout all cabin classes, passengers can enjoy the latest version of the airline’s much admired ice in-flight entertainment system. It offers a staggering array of over 1,200 channels, making time fly like never before whilst at 40,000 feet.
Geneva is sometimes referred to as the “birthplace of watch making” as the industry dates to the mid 16th century in the city. Even in 1790, Geneva was exporting more than 60,000 watches a year. In 2010, Swiss watch manufacturers exported more than 26 million finished watches, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
The luxury sector, including watch making, is amongst the top three employers in the Geneva region, representing 60% of its exports.
Each Emirates’ 777 aircraft serving Geneva will have 15-20 tonnes of cargo capacity – space for plenty of luxury watches, along with high-end fashion goods, diplomatic cargo, relief shipments for the International Red Cross, pharmaceutical products and electronics.
“Geneva is our second gateway into Switzerland after Zurich. We see strong demand for both leisure and business travel, bearing in mind the presence of hundreds of international organisations and Geneva’s status as a major financial centre,” said Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide.
“We’re just eight weeks out from the launch and last night’s road show event helps drive awareness throughout the travel trade about the new flights and the additional cargo capacity they offer in and out of Switzerland,” Vaughan added.
As with Zurich, passengers flying Emirates from Geneva can travel non-stop to Dubai, where they are able to connect to an impressive network of destinations throughout the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, Africa, the Far East and Australasia.
Geneva will become the airline’s 26th destination in Europe and 112th point globally. On 1st August, Emirates launches flights to Copenhagen, its first passenger service into Scandinavia.