Recently, the airline celebrated 25 strong years serving South Africans.
This means over 18million travellers have connected from Dubai to SA and other way round, creating a global network and firmly establishing the airline as a long-term partner of South African aviation, tourism and trade.
Says Badr Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Africa:” We took off to the skies and arrived for the first time in South Africa 25 years ago, with the mission to connect South African travellers to the world, and provide experiences that were in tune with their needs, all while providing a superb value for money proposition.
Celebrating this milestone comes during very challenging times, and we are honoured to serve South Africa and help bring families together, fly tourists to this beautiful country and showcase its attractions once again, and help support South Africa’s economic recovery.”
Having started the route with only 7 flights a day between Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, the airline’s services grew to 49 flights from SA, making it one of the popular airlines in the world to operate from our shores.
As part of giving back the airline operated over 35 repatriation flights between April and October in 2020, providing a much-needed lifeline to stranded SA passengers and families, as the pandemic continues to ravage the economy worldwide.
In the same year 2020 Emirates (despite difficult times) worked hard to safely rebuild its network while prioritising the safety of its customers, crew, and the communities it serves around the world.
Emirate SkyCargo has been supporting the South African economy by enabling exports to the rest of the world. Emirates freighters and passenger aircraft transport high-value cargo – including seafood, fruits and vegetables, fresh and frozen meats, wine, pharmaceuticals, and gold – between the UAE and South Africa.
“We are proud that we’ve been able to bolster the economy through our SkyCargo operations, and we plan to continue our commitment to servicing South Africans through safe, reliable air travel experiences and by supporting local partners and communities,” continued Abbas.
Through its Foundation, it also supports two charities namely: Singakwenza based in Pietermaritzburg (KZN) one of the long standing beneficiaries and Fikelela Aids Project in Cape Town.
Emirates also sponsors Emirates Lions, a rugby union team based in Gauteng. The airline also connects to golf fans in South Africa through its two sponsorships, the Nedbank Golf Challenge and SA Open.
Image SLM (Guest Geoffrey Mohale inside the Emirates hospitality box at the 2019 Nedbank Golf Challenge held at Sun City- South Africa).
