Almost half a million travel on Malta-Dubai route

[attach id="252868" size="medium"]Emirates country manager Paul Fleri Soler says the airline has not seen a decrease in loads from Cyprus in the wake of the banking crisis. Photo: Jason Borg[/attach]

Emirates has carried more than 490,000 passengers between Malta and Dubai since the airline began to operate the route 15 years ago, according to country manager Paul Fleri Soler. The Dubai-based airline, which now operates a daily service on the Dubai-Cyprus-Malta route, has brought thousands of Maltese-Australians and more than 7,000 Japanese tourists.

“We have also managed to bring thousands of Cypriots here and we have not seen a decrease in loads following the recent banking crisis,” Mr Fleri Soler told Times of Malta.

“Numerous Maltese now travel to Cyprus. It is a seasonal destination and the Maltese tend to visit in the summer but we are working to promote travel in the shoulder months. Emirates has made a collection of new destinations accessible to Maltese travellers, thanks to the support of local travel agents. We currently come to the market with a comprehensive choice of holiday packages and city pair options.”

Emirates’ Malta office has also succeeded in marketing South American destinations like Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro and South Africa to Maltese travellers thanks to attractive pricing and the strength of the brand.

Emirates flies three-class aircraft – First, Business, and Economy – on all its routes and is the only airline to offer First class out of Malta. It has enhanced its proposition for business travellers around the world with exclusive lounges in 35 key cities outside its Dubai base.

Locally, it has also provided a vital cargo connection for the business community. The Boeing 777-200, which began to service the Malta route in February, has the capacity to carry up to 17 tonnes of cargo with a full load of passengers or up to 22 tonnes with half the passengers.

“We have carried everything imaginable,” Mr Fleri Soler said. “We have even carried passengers’ cars. With our network, we give a very important, reliable service to the local industry from Malta to anywhere in the world in 24 hours and can carry cargo to Europe or North Africa via Dubai. We currently also operate a freighter service to Libya.”

Emirates’ Malta office is staffed by a team of 15, which includes two members of staff seconded by cargo general sales agent Cassar and Cooper.

In 1998, Malta became the 41st destination on Emirates’ network which today boasts routes to 133 cities in 77 countries serviced by 200 wide-bodied aircraft.

“We started with two flights a week when hardly anyone in Malta knew where Dubai was,” Mr Fleri Soler recalled.

“Malta fell into Emirates’ plan because it was the gateway for the traffic in and out of Libya – Emirates could provide the ideal route to the east to countries like India and Pakistan for the international labour force.”

Under a rarely granted agreement, the airline first flew via Greece through a code share agreement with Air Malta. When the UN sanctions on Libya were lifted, the route was redesigned and dropped the Greece stopover until the Tripoli route was serviced by a direct flight.

The Malta route was connected to Cyprus in 2005, under another code share with Air Malta. Since 1998, Emirates has recruited more than 200 people to work as pilots and cabin crew. A new recruitment drive will be held on Saturday.