Emirates expands capacity to Durban

Although most foreign airlines are so far declining to fly to Durban’s King Shaka International Airport, preferring to take Durban-bound passengers to Johannesburg from where they transfer to local flights, Emirates is boosting its capacity on the route “in response to strong demand”.

The Dubai-based airline announced yesterday that it would substitute a larger, 354-seat Boeing 777-Extended Range aircraft for the Airbus A330-200 it has been using on the route, increasing capacity by almost 30 percent.

So far the only other international airline flying to Durban is Air Mauritius, although British Airways (BA) has regularly investigated the market. BA/Comair suggested extending its BA franchise for southern Africa to serve the route last year, but was advised against it after BA carried out a feasibility study.

However, Jean-luc Grillet, Emirates senior vice-president for commercial operations in Africa, said yesterday that it had carried more than 165 000 passengers between Durban and its home airport of Dubai since October 2009, with average passenger loads of 83 percent. It has also carried more than 5 240 tons of high value export cargo on the route.

“We have experienced positive growth which we attribute to a growing recognition of this city as a popular tourist destination and one of the key trading hubs in South Africa,” Grillet said.

Emirates was the first airline from the Persian Gulf to fly into South Africa. After starting a daily service from Johannesburg in 1995, it expanded to Cape Town, from where it flies twice a day. It is also expanding throughout Africa, currently serving 20 passenger and cargo destinations on the continent.

Dubai has been developed as a hub airport serving destinations worldwide including Europe, North and South America and the Far East. It opened the first branch of Emirates Holidays outside Dubai in Johannesburg last year, enabling passengers and tour operators to book flights and accommodation to any of its destinations.

SAA views its expansion as a threat. SAA chief executive Siza Mzimela said in Parliament last year that the number of Emirates flights to South Africa meant that it was taking business from point-to-point airlines bringing passengers directly to this country.

Emirates and Alaska Airlines launch frequent flier alliance

Emirates said on Monday that it has launched a frequent flier partnership with Alaska Airlines as the Dubai carrier prepares to launch services to Seattle starting on March 1.

The Double Miles deal will offer travellers the opportunity to accrue Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles when they fly to any of Emirates' 118 destinations globally, including points across Africa, India and the Middle East, Emirates stated.

It added that Emirates Skywards members can also accrue miles across the Alaska Airlines network in the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada and Mexico.

Under the new partnership, travellers connecting between any point on Emirates and Alaska Airlines' networks will also be able to check in for their flights at either carrier's counter, receive their boarding passes and check their bags to their final destination.

Emirates will operate a daily non-stop flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Dubai aboard an ultra-long range B777-300ER from March 1 this year with Seattle becoming the airline's sixth US gateway , joining New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and from February 2, Dallas/Fort Worth.

"As part of our commitment to Seattle, we are launching our service by partnering with Seattle's hometown airline to offer customers the convenience of a frequent flier partnership as well as one-stop check-in and through checked baggage, providing easier access to a vast range of points across the United States, Canada and Mexico," Nigel Page, Emirates' Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for the Americas, said in a statement.

To celebrate the new partnership, both airlines are offering double miles on each others' flights starting March 1 through May 31, 2012. To earn Double Miles, members must register their Skywards number at skywards.com or Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan number at alaskaair.com prior to their first qualifying flight.