Emirates brings forward 777 arrival in Ireland 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Emirates has introduced a larger aircraft on its Dublin route two months early because of surging demand.

Effective May 1, a 360-seat Boeing 777-300ER has been deployed to Dublin, which has become one of the airline's most successful new passenger services.

Just three weeks after the launch of flights, Emirates announced a larger aircraft would be fast-tracked from July 1 this year.

However, after a further review of passenger load factors and aircraft availability, it was decided that the Airbus A330-200 needed to be upgraded even sooner.

"The phenomenal performance of this new service continues to impress us. Now, Ireland has one of the largest aircraft in our fleet and we can offer 52 percent more seats, said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' senior vice president, commercial operations, Europe & Russian Federation.

"We thank all the customers who have supported our investment in Ireland and who have used the service to travel to Dubai and our extensive network beyond."

Popular destinations so far have included Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Karachi.

"Dublin has been a resounding success for Emirates and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future to further grow their operations in Ireland," said Dublin Airport Authority Chief Operations Officer Robert Hilliard.

The 777-300ER brings a raft of products to passengers in all classes, including the ice entertainment system, where travelers can immerse themselves in more than 600 channels of movies, television programs, games, audio books and music from across the world.

In addition to Dublin, the airline has launched new routes to Rio, Buenos Aires, Lusaka, Harare, Dallas and Seattle so far in 2012. The next is Ho Chi Minh City from June 4, followed by Barcelona on July 3, Lisbon is effective July 9 and services to Washington start as of September 12.