News
Emirates confirms economy passenger fare hit
October 7th 2016
Dubai’s Emirates Airline this week confirmed it will add certain ancillary fees to its fares from October 3, to capture more revenue at the initial booking stages and counteract an overall yield decline. Read More »
"Emirates can confirm the introduction of a minimal charge for those looking to select their economy class seat in advance, for tickets issued on or after October 3, 2016. The charge is only applicable on Special and Saver fares in economy class and will vary depending on the duration of the flight. The charge for short flights will be $15 and for long-haul flights $40. Emirates will be closely monitoring the effects of this charge on its overall business. Children below the age of 2 and accompanying passengers on the same booking will be exempted from the fee. This charge is not applicable once online check-in opens, which is 48 hrs before flight departure.”
As previously reported, Emirates is also “seriously” mulling the introduction of a premium economy class to address underperforming premium sales.
Separately, the carrier this week announced Moscow and Guangzhou as its latest A380 destinations, bringing its A380 cities to 42. Dubai International Airport will add ten A380 gates by year end 2018, bringing the number of extra-large aircraft gates at the airport to 47. Emirates operates 83 A380s and has 57 on firm order.
The airline’s home airport continues breaking its own records. In August, passenger traffic grew 6.1% year-on-year to a record of 7.7 million. Passenger numbers for the month rose 6.9%, to 55,850,353. Eastern Europe was the fastest growing market, with a 67.9% increase, followed by Asia (13%) and South America (11.7%).
