Emirates Airlines, the largest airline of the United Arab Emirates has announced that it will resume passenger flights into Entebbe International Airport on October 1 after President Yoweri Museveni opened the airport for tourists.
The Airline tweeted this afternoon that they expect to touchdown at Entebbe Airport at 1705hrs (5:05 pm). The Airline had suspended its passenger flights into Uganda about six months ago due to the Airport closure as a result of the global COVID 19 pandemic.
“Emirates will return to Entebbe on 1 October and Muscat on 2 October, expanding its passenger destination network to 94 cities,” said the Airline on its official Twitter account.
Emirates is gradually resuming operations and rebuilding its network to provide more opportunities for travel, sparing no effort to ensure the highest standards of health and safety for its customers and employees at every travel touchpoint.
Emirates will operate to Entebbe with three weekly flights on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. The addition of Entebbe expands Emirates’ African network to 20 destinations, enabling customers to safely and easily connect to destinations across Europe, the Far East, the Americas, the Middle East and West Asia with one convenient stop in Dubai. Emirates flight EK 729 will depart Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Entebbe at 1500hrs. The return flight, EK 730, will depart Entebbe at 1700hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2325hrs.
Service to Entebbe will be operated by Emirates’ iconic Boeing 777- 300ER. Tickets can be booked on emirates.com, the Emirates App, Emirates sales offices, via travel agents as well as online travel agents.
Customers can stopover or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors. Ensuring the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community, COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from.
Destination Dubai: From sun-soaked beaches and heritage activities to world-class hospitality and leisure facilities, Dubai is one of the most popular global destinations. In 2019, the city welcomed 16.7 million visitors and hosted hundreds of global meetings and exhibitions, as well as sports and entertainment events. Dubai was one of the world’s first cities to obtain Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) – which endorses Dubai’s comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety.
Flexibility and assurance: Emirates’ booking policies offer customers flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers who purchase an Emirates ticket by 30 September 2020 for travel on or before 30 March 2021, can enjoy generous rebooking terms and options if they have to change their travel plans due to unexpected flight or travel restrictions relating to COVID-19, or when they book a Flex or Flex Plus fare.
COVID-19 PCR testing: Emirates customers who require a COVID-19 PCR test certificate prior to departure from Dubai, can avail of special rates at the American Hospital and their satellite clinics across Dubai by simply presenting their ticket or boarding pass. Home or office testing is also available, with results in 48 hours.
Free, global cover for COVID-19 related costs: Customers can now travel with confidence, as Emirates has committed to cover COVID-19 related medical expenses, free of cost, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 December 2020 and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination.
Health and safety: Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes to all customers
Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai’s Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is also the largest airline in the Middle East,[4] operating over 3,600 flights per week from its hub at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, to more than 150 cities in 80 countries across six continents through its fleet of nearly 300 aircraft. Cargo activities are undertaken by Emirates SkyCargo.
Emirates is the world’s fourth-largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger-kilometres flown, and the second-largest in terms of freight tonne-kilometres flown.
During the mid-1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result, Emirates was conceived in March 1985 with backing from Dubai’s royal family, with Pakistan International Airlines providing two of the airline’s first aircraft on wet-lease.
With $10 million in start-up capital, it was required to operate independently of government subsidy. Pakistan International Airlines provided training facilities to Emirates’ cabin crew at its academy.
The airline was headed by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline’s present chairman. In the years following its founding, the airline expanded both its fleet and its destinations. In October 2008, Emirates moved all operations at Dubai International Airport to Terminal 3.
Emirates operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and is one of the few airlines to operate an all-wide-body aircraft fleet (excluding Emirates Executive). As of February 2019, Emirates is the largest Airbus A380 operator with 115 aircraft in service and a further 8 on order.
Since its introduction, the Airbus A380 has become an integral part of the Emirates fleet, especially on long-haul, high-density routes. Emirates is also the world’s largest Boeing 777 operator with 155 aircraft in service.
The company slogans have included the Fly Emirates, From Dubai to destinations around the world, Keep Discovering, Hello Tomorrow, and is currently the Fly Emirates, Fly Better.
