Emirates to give China its first A380 service

Emirates Airlines will launch the first Airbus 380 services to Mainland China through a daily service from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The service, with what is the world's largest commercial plane, will commence on 1 August.

The new Dubai-Beijing-Dubai services follows other A380 services to New Zealand, Thailand and Korea by the Dubai-based airline.

The 517-seater aircraft will be deployed on the existing EK 306 service that departs Dubai daily for Beijing.

Emirates Airlines president Tim Clark said Monday: 'Emirates was the first Middle Eastern airline to establish direct air links with mainland China over seven years ago. The link has proved very successful for both of us and we are strengthening it further with the launch of China's first A380 service.'

'The A380 flight offers significant economic benefits to China by providing seamless connections between China and Africa, Europe and the Middle East via Emirates' Dubai hub. Today China ranks as Africa's second-largest trading partner with trade crossing $100 billion.

'Trade between Dubai and China is on a steady rise, recording an average annual growth of 36 percent. Also, the UAE is expecting a surge in incoming Chinese leisure groups after the Chinese government granted it 'Approved Destination Status' last year.