Emirates is ramping up its operations and expanding services across its network to meet strong leisure travel demand over the summer, as entry restrictions ease for travellers.

The airline has been gradually and safely rebuilding its route network and advancing its strategy to optimise its presence in key markets to serve leisure and growing business travel demand, as well as segments of travellers visiting friends and relatives.

Now, Emirates serves 115 global passenger destinations, and by the end of July, it will have recovered close to 90% of its pre-pandemic network, operating 880 weekly services across 124 cities.

The airline will resume services to seven cities in July including Venice on July 1; Phuket, Nice, Orlando and Mexico City on 2 July; Lyon on 9 July and Malta on 14 July.

Emirates will also launch flights to Florida's second-largest city and one of the world's most popular holiday spots, Miami, starting 22 July.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said, "Emirates is committed to keeping Dubai, businesses and communities around the world connected and we are working hard to rebuild our network and secure access to more destinations in partnership with various authorities and stakeholders.

"We are encouraged by the latest developments as many countries have begun to turn the page and reopen for international visitors, and we are seeing strong signs of pent-up demand wherever restrictions have eased.

"Emirates is nimbly matching up flight services and identifying opportunities to grow our footprint, and provide customers more opportunities to safely get where they want to go this summer, offering best-in-class service, greater convenience and more choice."

More flights to top destinations

Across its network, the airline will boost capacity and expand its schedules by layering on frequencies for the summer, connecting more customers with popular destinations and adding more choice and convenience as they plan their long-awaited holidays.

Emirates will be adding frequencies to 12 cities across Europe, Africa and North America as more destinations re-open for international visitors, and offer quarantine free travel. Emirates destinations with enhanced schedules for July and August include: German cities Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg; Zurich; Vienna; Prague; Madrid; Stockholm; Brussels; Lisbon; Chicago and Tunis. In Europe, the airline currently flies to more than 30 cities in 20 countries including popular holiday destinations Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Malta, which offer quarantine free arrivals.

In the United States, with rapid vaccine rollouts and the reopening of air travel at a rate outpacing the world, Emirates will continue to build its presence. With the addition of Miami to its network in July, Emirates will operate over 70 weekly flights to the US, offering over 26,000 seats across 12 gateways including Boston, Chicago, New York (JFK and Newark), Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC and Orlando. The airline is also ramping up its trans-Atlantic operations Milan-New York and Athens-Newark to meet large passenger volumes and high demand across its premium cabins.

An expanded A380 summer network

Emirates will also boost its A380 network this summer, bringing its flagship experience to 15 cities on 129 weekly services. During the summer, the airline plans to activate over 30 of its A380s to augment its 151 strong fleets of Boeing 777s.

The Emirates A380 experience continues to be sought after by customers, with many going out of their way to book their travel on an Emirates A380 for its signature products, spaciousness, quietness and unmatched levels of comfort.

Emirates will be deploying the A380 to the following cities during the summer period: Cairo, Jeddah, Amman, Guangzhou, London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris, Munich, Moscow, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Toronto. Stepping up of deployment of the A380 demonstrates the importance of the aircraft to Emirates' recovery and growth strategy.

The A380 ensures the efficient use of capacity on high demand routes and enables Emirates to deliver its sought-after A380 experience to more customers, helping the airline to maintain its leadership position in key cities across its network.

Emirates customers can rest assured this summer while travelling that their health and safety continued to be a top priority with the latest health and safety measures in place. When flying out of Dubai, customers can take advantage of contactless technology at nearly every step of their journey for an added layer of safety.

The airline will also be boosting its digital verification capabilities, providing its customers even more opportunities to utilise the IATA Travel Pass this summer, and customers flying out of Dubai can also enjoy a paperless experience when verifying their Covid-19 related medical records as part of the airline's tie-up with the Dubai Health Authority.

Emirates leads the industry with customer centric solutions that make travel planning stress free with even more generous and flexible booking policies, an extension of itsmulti-risk insurance cover, and helping loyal customers retain their miles and tier status.