Seven years since launching operations to Osaka, Emirates has unveiled plans to launch direct services to Tokyo – Japan’s capital city and one of the world’s foremost economic centres.

Tokyo will be Emirates’ 102nd international destination, and closely follows the recent launch of operations to Durban and Luanda. With the introduction of flights to Tokyo, Emirates will offer two non-stop services between Japan and Dubai. At present, Emirates operates daily services to Osaka.

Starting 28th March 2010, Emirates will fly non-stop to Tokyo five times a week on every Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The service will be operated by a state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300ER aircraft offering a three-class configuration.

Emirates’ longstanding partnership with Japan Airlines will be expanded to include a code share on the new Dubai-Tokyo-Dubai services. The flights will be identified with the Emirates ‘EK’ code as well as with Japan Airlines ‘JL’ code.

EK 318 will depart Dubai at 02:50 hours and touch down at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport at 17:55 hours the same day. At 21:40 hours, return flight EK 319 presents travellers a convenient departure time at the end of a working day, and ensures an ideal start to business in Dubai as it touches down at 04:35 hours the following day. The service connects seamlessly to key centres in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Presently the UAE and Japan share robust trade relations with Japanese technology firms and UAE energy companies collaborating on several projects. Already Dubai is home to 300 Japanese companies and the largest Japanese community in the Middle East.

The 23 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity on Emirates aircraft will support Japanese exports of mechanical components, electronic goods and automobile parts to the UAE, and its import of gas and oil products.

Emirates flies from Malta to Dubai on a daily schedule via Larnaca, Cyprus.