03/03/08-Newcastle based Chronicle News reports that the people of Newcastle in the North East of England have been flocking to Dubai in their droves. The success of the direct flights laid on by Emirates means that airline is considering increasing the size of it planes and routes from Newcastle International Airport.
Vic Sheppard, vice-president of Emirates in the UK, said the company had exceeded its own expectations for its first six months.
He said: “When you launch a new service, the first year you expect to make a loss, the second to break even and the third to make profit. Our forecast for this year is to break even or perhaps have a little bit of profit.
“Everyone here has been surprised by just how well the service has taken off and we are hopeful that it will continue. The people of Tyneside have really taken to the flights.”
Mr Sheppard said Emirates had high hopes for increasing the size of its planes as well as adding more flights to its schedules.
He said: “The plan would be to introduce a 777 service in around a year’s time so that will increase capacity and then, another year down the track, to introduce more flights per day.
“Our No 1 destination is Dubai, and second is Bangkok. But we have been really surprised to see people flying on to Sydney and Johannesburg as well.”
Ross Smith, from the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “The North East is one of very few areas that has a positive trade balance between imports and exports, which is not only important for the region but for the country overall.
“Making sure that businesses from the North East have easy access to international markets is crucial and the fact that Emirates is doing so well is good news with regard to this.
“Its success is a very good indicator of how well we are doing and is very important to the region in global terms.”
Graeme Mason, head of planning at Newcastle International Airport, said: “Emirates was and is our first daily long haul scheduled flight service from the airport and it has proved to be very, very popular.
