Emirates has commenced a daily passenger service between Newark Liberty International Airport and Dubai International Airport, via Athens International Airport.
Newark becomes Emirates’ 12th US gateway, and is the second serving the greater Tri-State Area, complementing Emirates’ existing four daily flights from Dubai and John F Kennedy International Airport, the airline said in a press statement. Passengers embarking from Newark and Dubai will have the option to disembark in Athens or continue to their final destinations.
Emirates will serve the route with a wide-body Boeing 777-300ER, offering eight seats in First class, 42 seats in Business and 304 seats in Economy class, as well as 19 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity.
“This new route will connect America’s largest metropolitan area and Dubai through one of Europe’s great capitals,” said Hubert Frach, divisional senior vice-president, Commercial Operations West, Emirates.
Diane Papaianni, general manager at Newark Liberty International Airport pointed out that the facility has a vast network of destinations and expressed delight to have Emirates join its airline family and offer more travel options to its customers.
“Emirates’ direct, year-round operation on the Athens-New York route is a spectacular development for the Athens market, enhancing its connectivity and presenting the travelling public with new travel options on Emirates’ excellent product. At the same time, Athens’ strong traffic volumes to/from the US signify the potential and the success of the route,” said Dr Yiannis Paraschis, CEO, Athens International Airport.
“Greece has experienced a double-digit increase in arrivals from the United States in the past two years. The establishment of the new direct flight Dubai-Athens-New York will significantly empower Greece’s appeal among the US travel audience,” said the consul-general of Greece in New York, Konstantinos Koutras.
Emirates daily flight EK209 will depart Dubai at 10.50am local time, arriving in Athens at 2.25pm before departing again at 4.40pm and arriving in Newark at 10pm on the same day. Emirates daily flight EK210 will depart Newark at 11.45pm, arriving in Athens the next day at 3.05pm, while EK210 will depart from Athens at 5.10pm and continue onward to Dubai, arriving at 11.50pm, “facilitating convenient connections to more than 50 Emirates destinations in India, the Far East and Australia”.