HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group said: 'Today our customers tasted the fruit of years of planning, investments and commitment. While we were quite confident of the robust systems and facilities, today was still a day of reckoning and we are delighted that our operations worked as planned. My warmest congratulations to all the stakeholders involved with Emirates Terminal 3, and particularly to the staff of the Emirates Group for their unflagging dedication and teamwork.'

Referring to Emirates Terminal 3, Mr Lootah commented: 'I would like to thank HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, HH Sheikh Ahmed and Emirates for giving us this additional gift of a new terminal. This terminal will be a pillar that contributes to the prosperity of Dubai and will benefit us all. Both Emirates and the new terminal will prove to be the world's gate to Dubai and our gate to the world. It is beautiful and I'm sure has top-class facilities and service.'

Khalida Mirza, Vice Manager of A1 Properties, also a Skywards Gold member and the first passenger at Business Class check-in said: 'I always prefer to fly Emirates. It has the best aircraft and the best service. It was a dream to travel from the new terminal and therefore I am here early to check-in.'

The new terminal opened with staff from Emirates Airport Services and Dnata manning every operation and service, including concierge and porter services, check-in and information counters, and all the lounges - Unaccompanied Minors, Special Services, Customer Services, Marhaba, First and Business Class - in the terminal and concourse.

On day one, besides flight EK843, other flights scheduled for departure from Emirates Terminal 3 include EK845 to Doha, EK857 and EK859 to Kuwait, EK839 to Bahrain, and EK817 to Riyadh.

Emirates flight EK2926 Jeddah-Dubai was the first flight to arrive at Emirates Terminal 3 and other flights scheduled to arrive on the first day include EK844 from Doha, EK212 from Houston, EK202 from New York, EK840 from Bahrain, EK858 from Kuwait, EK262 from Sao Paulo and EK818 from Riyadh.

From 15-Oct-08, all the flights to and from the GCC and the Americas - 40 flights a day, around 15% of the airline's total services - will depart from and arrive at Emirates Terminal 3. The second phase, to be launched shortly, will include flights to the rest of the Middle East and Africa, increasing operations to 99 flights every day, 37% of all flights.

Flights to Europe will take-off in the third phase. The fourth and final phase will include flights to the Indian Subcontinent, East Asia and Australasia and bring the total to 269 flights every day.



(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 15-Oct-08

In-depth analysis of the Middle East airline and airport sectors, including latest traffic and financial reports and outlooks, is available each month in the Monthly Essential Middle East.