Emirates’ first A380 touches down at Ortia

The decision to fly bigger aircraft
between South Africa and the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to boost
trade between the two countries while
also opening up major opportunities for
Africa, according to Jean Luc-Grillet,
Emirates Airlines senior vice president
commercial operations Africa.
Last week saw the arrival of the
first scheduled Emirates A380 Airbus
at OR Tambo International Airport to
commence its daily service between
Johannesburg and Dubai. This is the
airline’s first A380 destination in Africa
and its 16th globally.
“Our expansion into Africa
demonstrates our commitment to support
emerging economies, and this is further
supported by the announcement of the
20th and 21st African destinations to
Harare and Lusaka,” said Grillet. “We
foresee that the increased capacity offered
by the A380 will support an alreadythriving
trade relationship between South
Africa and the UAE, worth around
$1.8 billion a year.”
This is despite the A380’s 50%
reduction on payload. To counter this, the
airline in September announced its second
freighter service between Johannesburg
and Dubai that flies every Thursday.