Emirates is set to launch a new route to Porto, Portugal. The route, which will operate four times a week, will become Emirates’ 2nd destination in Portugal. Currently, the UAE airline also flies twice daily to Lisbon, the country’s capital city.

The news comes under a week after the airline announced it was cancelling some A380 orders. At the same time, the airline announced an order for 40 A330neo aircraft and 30 Airbus A350s. The new Porto Route will, however, launch before these aircraft arrive. As such it will be operated by an existing aircraft in the fleet.

New B777 Route

The new route to Porto is set to be operated by one of the airline’s B777 aircraft. The aircraft has a three-class configuration of Economy, Business, and First. These seat 310, 42, and 8 respectively. Passengers travelling in the first class cabin will be treated to private suites, while business class passengers will benefit from lie-flat seats.

The flight will operate four times a week departing from Dubai on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. From its launch on the 4th of July, flights will be scheduled as follows:

• Flight EK197 will depart from Dubai at 0915 local. After a 3,781 mi flight, the aircraft will land in Porto at 1430 local.
• Flight EK198 is the return leg. It is scheduled to depart Porto at 1735 local after a three-hour turnaround. It then lands in Dubai at 0415 the next day.

Portugal's 2nd Largest City

Emirates is one of the big Middle Eastern airlines flying passengers from A-B via C. In fact, their business model largely reloves around passengers connecting at Dubai. By operating this additional route to Porto, Emirates will be able to tap into an additional market. The Porto route is designed to connect people living in the North of Portugal and the North West of Spain to the Emirates network.

Speaking about Emirates' new route, Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, told the press: “Porto is currently enjoying increased levels of tourism, which is also reflective of the growth in the number of visitors to Portugal as a whole. The introduction of this new flight, along with our twice daily Lisbon service, will help meet this growing demand from both leisure and business travellers, as well as provide them with more choice, flexibility and connectivity when travelling to and from Portugal.”