Emirates to Start Services to Stockholm

Expanding its presence in Scandinavia, Emirates Airline has announced that it will begin operating a daily flight from its Dubai International Airport hub to Stockholm, Sweden from September 4, 2013. The Swedish capital, a vibrant and diverse cityscape, is the most populated urban area in Scandinavia with over 1.4 million residents and the introduction of 4,956 seats per week into the Middle East will likely further stimulate economic growth with key Swedish trading cities across the Far East and Australasia.

There are already strong bilateral trade links in place between the UAE and Sweden which reached more than $896 million in 2012, an increase of 4.3 per cent from 2011 and the major North European economy has a strong Gross Domestic Product which is well known for iconic global brands such as IKEA, Volvo, and fashion clothing brand H&M.

“Following our successful launch into Copenhagen, Denmark in 2011 we have been closely evaluating options for further expansion in Scandinavia.  Sweden, with its stable and growing economy is the perfect location to extend our regional presence.”

Tim Clark
President, Emirates Airline

“Following our successful launch into Copenhagen, Denmark in 2011 we have been closely evaluating options for further expansion in Scandinavia. Sweden, with its stable and growing economy is the perfect location to extend our regional presence,” said Tim Clark, president, Emirates Airline. “This new service will provide the only scheduled direct passenger service between Dubai and Sweden, giving passengers out of Sweden much easier access to our international network including convenient connections to popular destinations such as, Thailand, where we currently operate six flights per day.”

The new daily flight will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER configured in a three class arrangement with eight seats in First Class, 42 seats in Business Class and 304 seats in Economy Class and has been scheduled to allow travellers to connect quickly to destinations across the Far East, West Asia and Australasia.

“Timing new services to connect seamlessly across our network is an integral part of our planning. Having carefully assessed traffic trends we have ensured that passengers from Sweden will be able to reach over 25 destinations across the Far East with minimal transit time in Dubai, something that is incredibly valuable to our customers,” explained Clark.

In addition to passenger operations Emirates SkyCargo will offer 19 tonnes of cargo capacity between the two cities. Popular commodities are expected to be Pharmaceuticals, construction equipment, electronics, perishable food items, textiles, leather goods, plants and flowers. Emirates SkyCargo already successfully operates a three times weekly service to Gothenburg in Sweden and the addition of Stockholm is expected to further boost the airline’s cargo operations in the region.

In the table below we highlight the largest O&D markets from Stockholm across the Asian and Australasian regions, city pairs where Emirates will look to secure existing passengers and stimulate the market further. Thai Airways International and Air China provide Stockholm’s only direct links to the region to Bangkok and Beijing respectively, although Norwegian will introduce services to Bangkok later this year as part of its long-haul expansion. TUIfly Nordic also offers flights to Krabi and Phuket in Thailand on a seasonal basis.