BANGKOK, 4 November 2020: Emirates operated a special flight to Phuket International Airport on Monday, making it the first international carrier to arrive at the popular island destination since Thailand partially re-opened its borders to specific categories of international travellers.
The special flight coincided with the visit of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and a delegation of government leaders who visited the resort island to boost confidence in the tourism sector.
Flight EK376 was operated with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, starting its journey from Dubai International Airport at 0210 and arriving in Phuket at 1420 local time, after a short layover in Bangkok.
The first international flight, which heralds the return of international travel to Phuket, was welcomed with a traditional water cannon salute upon arrival at the airport, in the presence of a VIP delegation led by the Prime Minister and other Thai government officials representing the travel and tourism sector, in addition to the airport authority’s executive management team, Emirates representatives and media.
With safety as a priority, Emirates is gradually expanding its passenger services to 99 cities in November, allowing travellers to connect safely and conveniently to the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and the Asia Pacific via Dubai. Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees.
Customers from Emirates’ network can stopover or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors. Negative Covid-19 PCR test certificates are mandatory for all visitors arriving in Dubai (with a few exceptions), while passengers with onward connections will need to either present a certificate before boarding or take a Covid-PCR test on arrival at their final destination if it is mandated by the country.
Emirates has been serving Thailand since 1990 with this year marking the airline’s 30th anniversary. In September, Emirates resumed its daily scheduled services between Dubai and Bangkok and just recently began offering semi-commercial flights between Bangkok and Hong Kong, also on a daily basis.
Destination Dubai is one of the most popular global destinations. In 2019, the city welcomed 16.7 million visitors and hosted hundreds of global meetings and exhibitions, as well as sports and entertainment events. Dubai was one of the world’s first cities to obtain Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) – which endorses Dubai’s comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety.
Free, global cover for Covid-19 related costs: Customers can now travel with confidence, as Emirates has committed to cover COVID-19 related medical expenses, free of cost, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 December 2020 and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination. For more details: www.emirates.com/COVID19assistance.
Health and safety: Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes to all customers. For more information on these measures and the services available on each flight, visit www.emirates.com/yoursafety.
