Dubai-based Emirates Airlines plans to add three new destinations "� New York, Vienna and San Francisco "� to its 75 global destinations from India. | |
| The flights to Vienna and New York will operate from May 1 and June 1 respectively. San Francisco would be connected in January 2005. It recently launched flights from India to Shanghai and Glasgow. |
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| Announcing this at a press conference here, Abdulla Naseer Abdulla, vice-president (India-Nepal) of Emirates, said, "The decision to introduce flights to Glasgow has been taken to promote tourism in the area." |
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| He said that there was a special offer for business class passengers on this route. The offer includes two nights complimentary stay at the Hilton Glasgow or a four-day car rental. |
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| Emirates operates 43 flights from India. It flies 19 flights from Mumbai, eight from Hyderabad, seven from Delhi, five from Kochi and four from Chennai. |
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| Abdulla announced that the airline was planning to increase its fleet to 125 by 2010 from the existing 63. A new Dubai-New York non-stop Airbus A340-500 would be the longest haul aircraft which can fly for 19 hours continuously. |
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| Emirates is already operating A340-500 on Dubai-San Francisco and Dubai-Sydney routes. |
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| The special feature of the flight can accommodate up to 700 in the economy class. "If there is a demand for business and first class seats, the number could go down," he added. |
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| Abdulla said that apart from the internet booking, passengers can now book tickets via the 'Dial-a-ticket' service. |
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| This feature helps passengers who do not like to pay by the credit card system online. Reservations can be made at any of the airline offices in Delhi, Mumbai. Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. |
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| Abdulla, however, ruled out any stop-over fights between Dubai and Nepal via India. |
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