Dubai’s Emirates Airline has reaffirmed its confidence in Durban as a leading South African tourist destination, by launching its first Boeing 777-300ER on its route to King Shaka International Airport.
The new aircraft will boost passenger capacity by almost 30 percent, ensuring that even more travellers, both domestic and international, will pass through Durban en route to other destinations.
The 354-seater, which also introduces the airline’s first class cabin on the Durban route, touched down at King Shaka Airport on Friday.
It replaces the smaller capacity Airbus A330-200, and increases seating capacity from 27 business class seats and 251 economy class seats to 42 business class seats and 304 economy class seats. The Boeing 777-300ER also has eight first class cabin seats.
Fouad Caunhye, Emirate’s regional manager for Southern Africa, said this move by the airline, especially in light of current economic pressures, served to confirm its commitment to Durban. He added that he had witnessed the city’s growth in terms of both leisure and business travel.
“Durban is one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations and the introduction of the Boeing 777 is a direct response to increasing passenger demand on this route,” he explained.
Last year, Emirates carried more than 165 000 passengers on flights to and from Durban, and with the introduction of the new aircraft, it expected to grow this number by almost a third, Caunhye said.
The favourable response to Emirates’ Durban route from the Middle and Far East, China and Dubai, had kept seat factors “very healthy”, while there had also been a “strong pick-up” from the Japanese market before the earthquake in that country last year.
He said there was a large amount of religious traffic on the route, as well as leisure travel, both inbound and outbound, from the UK and US. Business traffic from Southeast Asia, Europe, Germany and Spain was also significant. “We have also seen a stronger development of possible connections through Durban to places like Mozambique.”
Apart from passenger travel, the new aircraft also provides a 90 percent increase in cargo capacity on the Durban route. Last year, Emirates SkyCargo, its freight arm, carried more than 5 000 tons of cargo.
This cargo was led by high-value South African exports including automobile and machinery parts, engineering tools, clothing and consumer goods, as well as electronics.
Cargo manager Kum Naiker said the port of Durban was already the busiest in Africa, and this, coupled with the increase in capacity from the Boeing 777 service and continued growth of the Dube TradePort, would “truly confirm Durban’s position as Africa’s global trade gateway”.
Caunhye said the airline was aware of financial pressures caused by current markets, but had plans in place to enable it to continue operating successfully despite them.