Emirates resumes flights to London Stansted Airport after more than two years

The airline now flies nine times a day to the UK capital

The Dubai-Stansted route was closed at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020. Photo: London Stansted Airport

Emirates is once again operating flights to three airports in the UK's capital after resuming services to London Stansted Airport.

It's the first time in nearly two-and-a-half years the Dubai airline has flown passenger services to the city's third biggest hub.

Operated via a Boeing 777, the route offers economy, business and first class cabins.

Flights depart Dubai in the morning, just before 9am, landing in the UK at 1.30pm. Return services leave London just after 9pm and arrive back in the UAE a little after 7am the following day.

For the first time since March 2020, travellers can now fly Emirates between Dubai and London Stansted. Photo: London Stansted Airport

Taking just 10 minutes longer than flights from Dubai to Heathrow, with a flying time of seven hours, the daily Stansted service adds extra capacity for travellers heading to or from the UK. The service last operated in March 2020, but was suspended during the Covid-10 pandemic.

Emirates had originally planned to resume the Stansted service with five weekly flights, but has instead restarted operations with a daily service, most likely due to the current increased demand for international travel and continuing problems at London Heathrow.

Stansted is to the north-east of London, providing easy access to Essex and the east coast of the UK.

“Attracting more international visitors is crucial to growing the East of England’s year-round visitor economy so establishing this connection between London Stansted and the Dubai hub will create a lot more opportunity for inbound tourism," said Pete Waters, executive director of Visit East of England.

110 weekly Dubai-UK flights by October

Emirates already operates to London Heathrow and Gatwick Airport; the airline recently announced it was upping flights to the latter to help alleviate passenger disruption following capacity limits put in place by authorities at Heathrow.

Emirates now operates nine daily flights to London, including six to Heathrow and a double daily flight to Gatwick, with an additional Gatwick service in place until August 3.

Emirates is operating 9 daily flights to London from Dubai. Photo: Emirates

There's more development in the pipeline for the airline, which will operate 110 weekly flights to the UK by October.

These will include six daily flights to Heathrow, a daily service to Stanstead and two A380 flights to Gatwick. Emirates will also be operating three times per day to Manchester, a double daily service to Birmingham, a daily flight to Glasgow — Emirates' only operational destination in Scotland — and five weekly flights to Newcastle.

Emirates has also launched its new premium economy cabin on flights to London Heathrow. Offering travellers leather seats with footrests, more legroom and six-way adjustable headrests, the new cabin class is available on high-traffic routes to London, Paris and Sydney.

What to expect flying in Emirates' new premium economy cabin — in pictures

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  Travellers can now check in for Emirates premium economy flights. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National

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  The new cabin class is now available to Emirates customers travelling on A380 routes to London, Paris and Sydney.

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  A boarding pass for Emirates' premium economy cabin.

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  The new cabin has luxurious seats and more legroom.

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  Cabin crew hand out hot towels to passengers seated in the premium economy cabin.

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  Welcome drinks are part of the premium economy service.

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  An Emirates crew member details safety features for travellers flying premium economy.

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  The wood panelling in premium economy is inspired by Emirates' business-class cabins.

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  Each seat has a 13.3-inch screen, one of the largest in its class.

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  Premium economy seats offer six-way adjustable headrests.

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  Leather seats have a 40-inch pitch, are 19.5 inches wide and recline eight inches into a comfortable cradle position.

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  Travellers flying premium economy all have easily accessible in-seat charging points and a side cocktail table for drinks.

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  The cabin class offers passengers a distinct menu to choose from.

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  Each seat also has calf rests and footrests.

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  Welcome drinks and amenity kits are offered to travellers flying Emirates premium economy.

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  The new cabin will also be added on flights to New Zealand from December.