Emirates airlines hits 100 destinations with Dubai-Cape town service

April 01, 2008 (LBO) – Emirates airlines said it had non-stop services to Cape Town in South Africa from its hub in Dubai, cutting travel time for travellers from the Indian sub-continent and Europe. . "The new service will provide its customers in Europe, Middle East, the Indian-sub continent and Asia-Pacific with direct access to Cape Town, one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations," Adnan Kazim, senior vice president for Africa said in a statement.

"At the same time it will also open up over 90 global destinations for Cape Town’s travellers who can now avoid travelling via Johannesburg."

Cape Town is the Dubai-based airline's 100th destination.

The inaugural flight had passengers from 18 countries some coming from as far as the United States, France, Germany, Poland, Kuwait, Bahrain, India and Pakistan, as the United Arab Emirates.

Emirates says it already flies to Johannesburg 21 times a week, with a new daily service added last year. The Cape Town service represents 2,000 seats and more than 100 tonnes of cargo capacity a week.

Emirates is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world.

The airline says it is starting new services to Calicut, India