Setting the stage yet again for increased co-operation between the U.A.E. and India, Emirates Airline has unveiled its plans to start non-stop services to Ahmedabad, providing a first direct link between India`s sixth largest city, and Dubai.

Emirates plans to operate six flights per week to Ahmedabad at the start of the winter timetable i.e. on 28th October. Flights will be operated in two- and three-class configurations using the modern A330-200 and Boeing 777-200 aircraft; both popular choices for the airline`s existing India network.

The Emirates` Dubai-Ahmedabad service will take approximately three hours, and will inject over 1500 passenger seats per week on the route.

Dubbed the `Manchester of the East`, Ahmedabad is an important industrial centre with a booming textile industry.

Ahmedabad is the latest in a series of new routes, namely Newcastle, Sao Paulo, Toronto, and Houston, to be launched by the Dubai-based airline in the present year. It also represents Emirates` fourth Indian gateway in a span of less than two years, the others being Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata and Bangalore - all launched in quick succession in 2006.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group noted: Emirates decision to start operations to Ahmedabad comes close on the heels of our recent announcement to
expand services to Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin and Hyderabad; clearly signalling our expansion-based strategy for India. We are pleased that our enhanced presence will provide travellers, particularly those in the Middle East - home to the burgeoning Non Resident Indian (NRI) population - with more convenient access to India.

I am also confident the new, direct link will stimulate increased commerce and tourism exchange between long-standing partners U.A.E. and India, and prove popular with business and leisure travellers, he
added.