Emirates to resume flights to London Gatwick in December

Direct daily flights from Dubai to London Gatwick will resume in December, restoring operations by the airline to a total of six UK airports.

Daily flights will begin from December 10 on a B777 aircraft, offering First, Business and Economy class services. Flights will leave Dubai International Airport at 7.40am, arriving at London Gatwick at 11.40am. Return flights will leave Gatwick at 1.35pm, arriving in Dubai at 12.40am the following day.

The resumed service takes the Dubai airline's UK routes back up to six destinations, with London Gatwick being the airline's second gateway in the British capital.

Emirates is currently operating routes to London Heathrow with six daily flights, two daily flights to Manchester in the north west of England, 10 weekly flights to Birmingham in the Midlands, four weekly services to Newcastle in the north east of England and daily flights to Glasgow, Scotland.

An Emirates B777-300ER aircraft pictured at Brussels Airport. Photo: Emirates

By the end of December, the airline will operate 84 weekly flights to the UK, Emirates said.

"We're very pleased to resume Emirates flights to and from London Gatwick, offering more ways for people and businesses to connect with our ever growing global network," said Adnan Kazim, Emirates chief commercial officer.

"With the UK simplifying travel and accepting international vaccination certificates, we've seen a big surge in demand as people have been a lot more confident in booking trips for the coming months and further ahead, be it for business, a winter sun escape or to visit family and friends. Gatwick has long been a valued partner for Emirates and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard an Emirates flight soon."

The news comes after the UK announced plans to accept vaccination certificates from 55 countries including the UAE from Monday, October 4, meaning vaccinated travellers arriving in the country no longer need to self-isolate.

Stephen King, head of airline relations at Gatwick Airport, said: "We are delighted to welcome Emirates back to Gatwick in December. Emirates has been a hugely popular airline for Gatwick passengers and it's fantastic that we are once again able to offer passengers across London and the South East the opportunity to connect with Dubai and beyond."

In August, Emirates announced it will resume its Newcastle route in October, with prices starting from around Dh2,400.

Return flights to Gatwick currently start from Dh2,305.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash

Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.

Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.

Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.

Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.

Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.

Emirates to resume flights to London Gatwick in December

By the end of the year, the Dubai airline will operate 84 weekly flights to the UK

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash