Emirates is adding 16 more destinations to its network as it simultaneously resumes connecting flights through its Dubai hub. The news follows a similar announcement from rival airline Ethiad this morning.

Many airlines are now making a big push to start resuming services. As travel bans are slowly being lifted, and quarantine periods disappear, it seems as though travel can begin to recover.

However, rather than a quick bounce back, a return to normality will instead be a slow but steady climb. The Chinese aviation industry is already showing this. In line with this, Emirates today announced more flights that will operate from June 15th.

The latest from Emirates

Hot off of the heels of Etihad's announcement this morning, Emirates has now announced that it will soon be offering connecting flights through Dubai, in addition to serving more destinations.

Emirates had already been offering limited connecting flights between the United Kingdom and Australia. However, the United Arab Emirates Federal Government has today announced that restrictions on transit services will now be lifted. The airline will be allowing passengers that meet travel and immigration requirements of their respective destination country to travel via Dubai.

16 new destinations

In addition to the resumption of transit flights, Emirates is also adding a further 16 routes to its existing network of nine routes. The new destinations added by Emirates are Amsterdam, Bahrain, Brisbane, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, New York (JFK), Perth, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Vienna, and Zurich.

These new destinations will join the airline's nine existing destinations, Chicago, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Paris, Sydney, and Toronto. Manila is also due to be launched from June 11th. Meanwhile, Emirates is scheduled to fly passengers out of three Pakistani cities from June 8th.

A lifeline for those still stuck?

Given the wealth of travel restrictions still in place, it is unlikely that Emirates is relaunching these services with tourists as the prime target. Indeed, we can tell that these aircraft likely won't be packed as Emirates is only utilizing the Boeing 777 for the time being. Although, all of its Airbus A380s are being flown locally once a month.

Instead, these flights are likely to be targetted towards those who have so far been unable to return home, either due to cost or flight restrictions. As passengers are transiting in Dubai, they are less likely to import the virus.

Of course, the possibility remains that somebody asymptomatic could accidentally give it to some ground staff. Qatar Airways has now been banned from flying to Greece after carrying asymptomatic virus carriers.

Emirates will announce further service resumptions when necessary government approvals, and commercial demand return.

Are you keen to travel on one of Emirates' connecting flights? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!