Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, recently celebrated the inaugural flight of its new service between Dubai and Edinburgh. 

The Emirates Boeing 777-300ER touched down in the Scottish capital just before 3 p.m. local time, making Edinburgh the airline’s second destination in Scotland and the eighth in the UK.

Emirates flight EK023, with a group of VIP guests and media on board, was welcomed at Edinburgh Airport with a water cannon salute. To celebrate the new service, Emirates and Edinburgh Airport held a launch event hosted by Hubert Frach, Emirates divisional senior vice president, Commercial Operations West, and Richard Jewsbury, divisional vice president, UK, alongside Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport.

“Today’s flight marks the start of greater connectivity and more convenience for leisure and business travelers from the wider Edinburgh area and locations further afield, such as Aberdeen and Dundee, to destinations across Emirates’ global network via Dubai," said Frach. 

"While for inbound travelers, particularly from cities in Asia and Australia, there is now a direct flight option to Scotland’s most visited city by tourists. In addition to tourism, the new flight will also directly connect Edinburgh to new opportunities for business, trade and education across our network.”

Dewar said: “Our partnership with a world-class brand like Emirates strengthens and grows our country’s connectivity and we look forward to working with them to the benefit of passengers across the world. We’ve built our success on making Edinburgh where Scotland meets the world and today’s flight see us take a major step on that journey.”

Other destinations the Emirates serves in the UK include London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow.