Route Analysis: Dubai-Glasgow

Emirates is restarting flights to Glasgow (GLA) in the UK after a six-month hiatus. The Gulf carrier, which last served the airport on Feb. 7, will return to the Scottish city on Aug. 11.

Flights from Dubai (DXB) will operate four times per week using Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.

The decision to resume service comes after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) moved onto the UK government’s ‘amber’ travel list on Aug. 8, meaning that travelers arriving in the UK from Dubai no longer need to quarantine provided they are fully vaccinated.

Dubai had previously been on the "red" list that required anyone returning to the UK to isolate in managed hotel quarantine for 10 days at a cost of £1,750 ($2,428) per person.

Emirates CCO Adnan Kazim said the decision to move the UAE to amber had resulted in an upsurge in leisure and VFR demand. “Emirates is reviewing our operations to various points in the UK and any service restart will be announced in the usual fashion,” he added.

Prior to the pandemic, Emirates served Glasgow twice a day using a mix of Airbus A380s and 777-200LRs. In total, the carrier offered about 5,000 two-way weekly seats between the destinations.

With the resumption of GLA, the airline is now serving four points in the UK, flying to Birmingham (BHX), London Heathrow (LHR) and Manchester (MAN).

A total of 36X-weekly flights and 30,114 two-way weekly seats are now being offered by the carrier between Dubai and the UK. During the same week two years ago (w/c Aug. 12, 2019), Emirates provided 134,000 two-way seats.

Between Dubai and Glasgow, flights will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing DXB at 7.50 a.m. and arriving in GLA at 12.45 p.m. The return leg departs at 2.35 p.m. and arrives back in the UAE at 1.05 a.m. the following day.

DXB-GLA

Photo credit: Joe Pries