Emirates, recently named the most valuable global airline brand, returns to the world’s leading travel trade fair at ITB Berlin, once again signaling its commitment to the European travel and aviation market with its largest trade show presence outside of the airline’s Dubai base.

Emirates has been exhibiting for almost 20 years at ITB Berlin, which opened on Wednesday (March 5) and will continue till March 9. The airline has been part of European skies, cities and communities since 1987 when it began operations to London Gatwick followed by Frankfurt. Emirates currently operates passenger and cargo services to 38 destinations in 21 countries in Europe and the Russian Federation.

"With more than 10,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries, the world literally converges at ITB Berlin. For Emirates, a global connector of people and places, the event is a perfect platform for us to demonstrate our product and services and share ideas with new and existing trade partners, customers and industry stakeholders”, said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ EVP and COO.

“We are currently operating an average of 118 daily flights to and from Europe, and Germany is our second largest European market. As international air services are one of the most important drivers of economic growth, we would also like to serve Stuttgart and the German capital Berlin. Emirates is proud to serve other prominent capital cities globally like Washington DC, Beijing, Paris, London, Rome and Vienna, and we hope to fly to future ITB Berlin events directly on Emirates as we truly believe in the region’s strong credentials as a profitable, but underserved, intercontinental market,” added Antinori.

In 2013, Emirates carried over 6.3 million passengers from Europe to destinations like Bangkok, Colombo, Mauritius, Male in the Maldives, and Dubai. Over the last year, Emirates added eight new destinations to its global network, including two in Europe.