West Asia-Indian Ocean region: Emirates claims 17 percent of passengers share

The West Asia-Indian Ocean region, which includes Pakistan among other countries, has contributed 8.1 percent of Emirates total revenue earnings for 2005-06, and 17 percent of the total passengers carried during this period.
In terms of tonnage carried by SkyCargo in this region, the contribution was also 17 percent of the total.
This was stated by the Emirates International Airlines Vice-President for Pakistan, Adnan Kazim, at a meeting here with senior aviation correspondents on Tuesday where he shared with them the details of Emirates' growth, key milestones achieved in Pakistan, and customer benefits offered by the airline, expansion of its network of operations and how the airline plans to meet the increasing travellers' demand.
He said that the Emirates Group, which includes, besides Emirates International Airlines, Dubai National Air Transport Authority (DNATA), returned its 18th consecutive annual profit of 762 million dollars for the year ending on March 31, 2006.
This was a 5 percent increase from the previous year's record profit of 726 million dollars, he said. Adnan said that the Group's sharp sales growth and record were a reflection of customers' increasing preference "for our products, as illustrated by the two million more passengers, who flew Emirates in the latest financial year, for a new record total of 14.5 million".
Due to a continued upsurge in passenger demand, the Emirates increased the frequency of flights from the corporate hub of Pakistan--Karachi to Dubai--by adding two weekly flights, bringing the total number of weekly flights from Karachi to Dubai to 27.
The aircraft being used on this route, Airbus 330-200, offers 27 business and 251 economy class seats. By offering additional flights, the Emirates aimed at providing increased customer convenience and flexibility, he said.
Emirates also introduced e-ticketing in Pakistan in partnership with Galileo's distribution systems and American Express.
This technological breakthrough would result in added convenience for travel agencies, which had been absolved from physical ticket stock shortage issues, he said. For passengers, too, he said, it was very convenient, as they did not have to worry about handling various flight coupons.
Adnan said that Emirates SkyCargo launched its daily freighter service on the Dubai-Islamabad route, operated by an Airbus A310F. Pakistan's growing trade and industry would now have direct access to Dubai, which would benefit freight movement of heavy and perishable cargo.
He said Islamabad was a very significant destination for SkyCargo as it had a growing industrial sector and also caters to growing cargo from adjoining cities like Sialkot, Faisalabad and Gujranwala.
The A310F's capacity to use standard cargo containers has reduced the need to re-package shipments, facilitating rapid transfer, and providing quicker service and avoiding damage.
He said that, being a major sports sponsor, the Emirates supported the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship held in Karachi last year. "It was a pleasure being associated with a sporting event that brought us closer to our customers. Through sponsorship of such events, such as the South Asian Football Federation championship, we hope to build a greater awareness and interest for football in Pakistan," he added.
He said that recently a three-day workshop was conducted in Dubai to launch the new Emirates 'Holiday Brochure' in which more than 1,000 travel agents from around the world were invited. At the end of the event, a gala ceremony was held where awards were presented for best performance in various categories for EK stations world-wide.
At this event, Pakistan won the 'Best Overall Performance West Asia and Pacific Rim' award. Earlier, in 2005, the Emirates Lahore team had won the award for 'Best Sales Performance Station, 2004-2005' for the airline's West Asia and Indian Ocean (WA&IO) region.
Last but not the least, he said, the Emirates signed a massive $9.7 billion contract for 42 Boeing 777 aircraft at the 2005 Dubai air show. This was the largest-ever single order for Boeing 777 aircraft, and brought the value of Emirates total order book for new aircraft to $33 billion.
Over the next eight years, the airline will receive delivery of one new aircraft per month, on average, and expects that the Emirates fleet would comprise 156 aircraft by 2010, serving 101 destinations and carrying some 26 million passengers, he added.