Emirates
announced today that it will further expand its European network with
the introduction of a daily flight from Dubai to Zagreb (ZAG), the
capital of Croatia from June 1, 2017. The new southeast European
destination will be served by an Emirates Boeing 777-300 aircraft, the
only wide-body service operating to/from Zagreb.
“Emirates
has had a commercial presence in Croatia since 2003, so to launch full
operations is a natural progression. Emirates is pleased to have this
opportunity to add such a picturesque destination to our global route
network. We look forward to working with our partners and stakeholders
in Croatia to provide our world renowned service to our customers on our
young, modern fleet of aircraft. We are also committed to our
contribution to growing the trade and tourism flows between Croatia and
Dubai, as well as encouraging incoming tourism from the Middle East and
Asia Pacific, where Emirates operates 45 destinations,” said Thierry
Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial
Officer.
The
new Zagreb flight opens a whole new exciting region for Emirates’
passengers to explore. The city itself is steeped in culture and
history, with an abundance of charming pavement cafes and restaurants to
be enjoyed during the spring and summer months. Located in the
northwest of the country, the capital city offers easy access to the
mountains and national parks for energetic travellers to hike, or
visitors can simply admire the natural beauty and capture the stunning
vistas for Instagram or the holiday photo album. During the winter
months, the ski resort of Sljeme on mountain Medvednica is just a twenty
minute drive away and is a great alternative to the busy Alpine slopes.
On
Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, the picturesque resort of Split and the
exclusive islands of Hvar and Brac can be found. Further around the
coast, the UNESCO protected historical centre of Dubrovnik tempts
visitors with its baroque cathedral and distinctive walled Old Town,
which may have caught the eye of TV fans as ‘King’s Landing’ in the HBO
hit series Game of Thrones. The city’s stunning architecture has also
been selected by Disney as a filming location for the latest in the Star
Wars franchise, Episode VIII, out later in 2017.
The
country is a popular destination for business and leisure travel from
around the world, in particular with tourists from Far Eastern
destinations like South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, plus
Australia. The favourable flight times offered on Emirates’ new service
will make travelling to Zagreb from these markets and many more, a more
seamless and enjoyable experience.
The
new flights will not only benefit travellers in Croatia, but also those
in neighbouring Slovenia and even the southern regions of Hungary and
Austria making it more convenient to travel with Emirates to Dubai and
beyond. Visiting the airline’s home of Dubai for leisure or business, in
a choice of three different cabins, on a modern, wide-body aircraft, is
now a viable option. Onward travel to Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and
Kuala Lumpur, or Sydney, Melbourne, Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka
can all be reached with less than four hours’ transit time.
Business
travellers into Zagreb will appreciate the convenient early afternoon
landing into Franjo Tuđman (Pleso) International Airport from Dubai.
Dubbed the new ‘Silicon Valley’ owing to its reputation for being an
incubator for tech start-ups thanks to a growing population of
highly-educated young professionals, Zagreb is central to industry in
the region. In addition to new technology and telecoms, many of the
largest Croatian and Central European companies and conglomerates have
their headquarters or regional offices in the city centre.
From
the perspective of trade and commerce, the whole southeast Europe
region will now be more accessible to businesses in the Middle East and
beyond, an area previously unreached by an Emirates route. Emirates’
daily 777 service will also offer up to 16 tonnes of cargo per flight,
opening up access to more global markets for Croatian exports, and to
support trade.
Scheduled
flight times for EK129 (departing Dubai at 08:15hours and arriving in
Zagreb at 12:20hours local time) and the return flight EK130 (departing
Zagreb at 15:35hours and arriving in Dubai at 23:05hours).
The
three-class configured Emirates Boeing 777-300 which will operate on
the route offers 12 lie-flat seats in First Class, 42 seats in Business
Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class. Passengers can enjoy up
to 2,500 channels of on demand audio and visual entertainment on
Emirates’ award winning ice entertainment system and gourmet a la carte
cuisine in all classes. Emirates’ famed service and hospitality will be
provided by multi-national cabin crew from over 130 countries, including
234 crew members from Croatia.
ENDS
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