Emirates Airlines has broken all records with the performance of its Dublin route with the carrier upgrading the route a Boeing 777-300ER such is the level of demand two months ahead of schedule originally which was planned for the 1st of July with A6-EBC Boeing 777-36NER c/n 32790 operating the first flight yesterday.

                                            

The carrier commenced the route on the 9th of January with an Airbus A330-200 with the carrier having consistently having load factors in excess of 90% from the first day of operation, thus the Dublin route has exceeded all expectations as an A330-200 would serve the route for 2 to 3 years before being upgraded to an Boeing 777-300ER despite the competition from Etihad Airways in the market for connecting traffic via their respective hubs.

                                            

The introduction of the Boeing 777-300ER on the route will increase average daily capacity by 52% in a three class configuration with 25 tones of cargo capacity which will be of benefit to export market. The airline is the world’s largest operator of the Boeing 777 with 106 in service including 3 Boeing 777-200, 6 Boeing 777-200ER, 10 Boeing 777-200LR, 12 Boeing 777-300 and 70 Boeing 777-300ER with a further 78 on order and its cargo subsidiary Emirates Sky Cargo operates 5 Boeing 777-200F.

On the Newstalk 106-108FM Breakfast Show with Ian Guider on the 20th of October 2011 the Emirates VP Ireland & UK Laurie Berryman stated ‘Never say never’ to the airline using the Airbus A380 on Dublin, adding talks where held with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) on the type using Terminal 2. The airline has a policy of increasing aircraft size rather than increasing frequency (Business Travel News).

Irish Aviation Research Institute © 2nd May 2012