DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, February 6, 2026/APO Group/ –Emirates (www.Emirates.com) has announced the expansion of its operations to Tokyo Narita with the introduction of a second daily service from 1 May, operated by the airline’s retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER.

 

The additional flight, EK320, will depart Dubai at 22:30hrs and arrive in Tokyo Narita at 13:30hrs the following day. The return service, EK321, will depart Tokyo Narita at 21:30hrs and arrive in Dubai at 03:50hrs the following day. All times are local.

The second daily flight will provide travellers with greater choice and enhanced opportunities for multi-destination itineraries, including the convenience of a stopover in Dubai.

Eastbound passengers on the additional Narita service will arrive in the afternoon, supporting stronger domestic connectivity and shorter connection times from key European and Middle Eastern markets. Westbound travellers departing from Tokyo Narita will benefit from an early-morning arrival in Dubai, enabling seamless onward connections to major destinations across Africa, Europe, and South America, including South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Brazil.

With the deployment of a refurbished Boeing 777-300ER on flights EK320/321 to Tokyo Narita, Emirates doubles down on its commitment to offer a consistent travel experience for its customers in Japan. The four-class aircraft features upgraded interiors with new design elements, including modern colour palettes, specially designed Ghaf Tree motifs, and wood finishes across all cabins. Travellers will have access to 260 of the latest-generation Economy seats, 24 Premium Economy seats, 40 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, and eight First Class Suites.

The onboard experience is rounded off with a regionally-inspired cuisine featuring Japanese dishes such as Kaiseki meal tray. Travellers across all cabins will also enjoy more than 6,500 channels of on-demand content on Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, featuring movies, TV series, podcasts, music, documentaries, and more, with a selection of Japanese content.

Tickets can be booked on www.Emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents, as well as Emirates’ retail stores.

Emirates in Japan

Emirates has been serving Japan since 2002 and currently operates three daily flights to Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, and Osaka, with all services offering the airline’s Premium Economy product on a mix of Boeing 777s and A380s.

From 1 May, Emirates will offer more than 22,500 weekly seats to and from Japan across 28 weekly flights serving three gateways. On a weekly basis, the airline will be able to carry 1,240 tonnes of cargo in and out of the country, providing extensive capacity for local businesses to transport their products to key trade markets in the GCC, Europe, and Africa.

The airline has also enhanced its offering for premium customers in Narita with the introduction of its world-class Chauffeur-drive service earlier this month. The service will also be extended to premium customers in Osaka from 1 March.

Emirates offers expanded domestic connectivity through partnerships with Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways, serving 36 destinations, including 26 domestic and 10 regional points. The additional frequency to Narita further provides travellers from South Africa and other African destinations with greater flexibility and more convenient connection options to these points and beyond.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, January 21, 2026/APO Group/ –As global consumers increasingly focus on nutrition, health and wellbeing with a back-to-basics approach of consuming minimally processed food, this Veganuary Emirates (www.Emirates.com) confirms new concepts are in development to celebrate real, whole, and farm-to-fork plant foods. The current development project sees a team of chefs create dishes that feel authentic, vibrant and rooted in culinary tradition, without replacing typical proteins with engineered plant-based meats and substitutes. The new dishes are set to be onboard for customers in 2027.

Emirates Vice President of Food & Beverage Design, Doxis Bekris, confirms the philosophy;

‘Our focus now is on legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, and seasonal vegetables as the heroes of the plate. These ingredients offer natural depth of flavour, texture, and nutrition without relying on ultra-processed alternatives. Instead of replicating meat, we want to draw from cuisines that have always been plant-forward like Mediterranean mezze, Levantine grain salads, Asian noodle bowls, and African stews such as South African chakalaka, Kenyan sukuma wiki, Ugandan groundnut stew, Tunisian lablabi, Senegalese thieboudienne, Ivorian attiéké with vegetables, Guinean peanut stew, , Egyptian koshari, and Tanzanian mchicha. In our view, this approach feels genuine and culturally rich.

‘Although there are many commendable lab-based alternatives available, real food aligns with our sustainability goals and guest expectations for health-conscious choices. It’s about transparency for our customers who want to know what they’re eating, as well as have confidence that it’s good for them and the planet. We want to shift from substitutes to a celebration of plants, where it’s not about what’s missing – but instead what is gained in authenticity, flavour, and creativity.’

Emirates serves half a million vegan meals each year across Africa and globally

Emirates now has 488 vegan recipes in rotation across 140 destinations, representing a 60% increase in total recipes from 2024 and showing dedication to vegan customers.

Emirates currently serves half a million vegan meals each year. Vegan meal consumption grows in line with passenger volume increases, and last year the top destinations with customers ordering vegan meals were London in first place, followed by Sydney, Bangkok, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Manchester, Mumbai, Bali and Singapore. Emirates attributes some of the demand to non-vegan customers opting for vegan cuisine when flying, as a lighter option often considered easier to digest. Across its African markets, Emirates notes growing demand for vegan meals in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, , Egypt and Tanzania, reflecting increased interest in plant-based cuisine across the continent.

Vegan options are available to order and pre-order onboard, as well as in Emirates Lounges. Customers can request vegan meals on all Emirates flights and across all classes of travel up to 24 hours before departure. However, on high-demand routes, plant-based meals are also provided as part of the main menu options.

Emirates’ vegan cuisine in every class

Highlighting its commitment to culinary excellence for all customers, Emirates offers vegan meals across all classes, as well as complementary products like vegan milk. Supporting the farm-to-fork philosophy, Emirates incorporates fresh produce from Bustanica – the world’s largest hydroponic vertical farm. The farm is a joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering that delivers pesticide and chemical-free leafy greens like lettuce, arugula, mixed salad greens, and spinach, directly to Emirates’ catering facilities.

In Economy class, Emirates customers can enjoy dishes like pumpkin frittata with sautéed mushrooms and tomato concassé, or spinach cannelloni served with tomato basil sauce, toasted crumbs and parsley, and desserts like vegan chocolate mousse cake drizzled in chocolate sauce and biscuit crumbs, or carrot cake dashed with coconut cream.

In Premium Economy class, customers choosing vegan cuisine will be served dishes like kimchi fried rice served with roasted pumpkin and sautéed oyster mushrooms, followed by desserts like coconut cake with pineapple compote and pistachios.

In Business class, a range of creatively curated dishes is offered, including braised mushrooms with vegetables in five-spice soy sauce, served with steamed jasmine rice and blanched pak choi. Customers who have room for dessert can feast on coconut panna cotta with raspberry mousse with fresh berries or chocolate tofu cheesecake.

In First class, customers will be treated to elevated vegan cuisine like pumpkin and barley risotto served with rocket, caramelised walnuts, vinaigrette and vegan cheese. Dishes offering a burst of flavours include quinoa salad with grilled aubergine, courgette, sautéed Swiss chard and red pepper coulis. Decadent desserts include strawberry tart with vanilla custard and pistachios, served with berry compote, or a tempting sticky date pudding served with salted caramel sauce, vegan cream cheese, candied pecans and almond butter.

Crafted vegan options in Emirates’ Lounges Dubai

At Dubai International Airport, Emirates has 7 lounges located in its flagship Terminal 3 – 3 for First Class and 3 for Business Class customers, as well as the Emirates’ Lounge catering to all premium customers. The lounges offer a wide array of vegan options, from Baharat and turmeric-spiced kofta in coconut gravy at the buffet area, to an à la carte breakfast of warm amaranth porridge with compressed green apples, red grapes, raspberries and walnuts in the First-Class Lounge, amongst many others. In addition to an array of popular vegan salads, the most in-demand vegan dish in the lounges is the Emirates Green Burger – a soya and flaxseed green burger, with a signature sauce and pickled cucumbers.

Emirates (www.Emirates.com) will continue rolling out its retrofitted Boeing 777 and new A350 aircraft to key destinations across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia, bringing Premium Economy and its latest onboard products to more cities across its network.

The recently-announced third daily service on the Dubai-Cape Town route will now be served by an A350, bringing Emirates latest aircraft type to the market for the very first time. The deployment enhances travel options between South Africa and Dubai, with Emirates’ full suite of products and services available for customers to enjoy – from the iconic A380 and the fully-retrofitted Boeing 777 to the next-gen A350.

Commenting on the deployment, Emirates’ Regional Manager of Southern Africa, Afzal Parambil said, “With the deployment of the next-gen A350 on the third daily service between Dubai and Cape Town, South Africa becomes the only African nation on our network to be served by all three aircraft types on the Emirates fleet. This fleet mix provides the greatest flexibility for our customers to travel in and out of our three gateways, while still providing travellers with the world-renowned Emirates’ experience, on every flight.”

Emirates also announced additional A350 deployments on new daily services to Copenhagen and Phuket, offering customers greater connectivity alongside an elevated onboard experience, ahead of the anticipated surge in winter travel demand. The airline will deploy its Premium Economy retrofitted A380, Boeing 777 and A350 aircraft with the latest cabin interiors on more than 84 routes by 1 July, underscoring its focus on delivering a premium and consistent experience across its network.

Additional flights and capacity to Copenhagen, Phuket and Cape Town

From 1 June, a second daily service will be introduced between Dubai and Copenhagen; a third daily service between Dubai and Phuket and the third daily to/from Cape Town will come into effect from 1 July. All three services will be operated with the airline’s latest A350 aircraft, featuring its award-winning Premium Economy, in addition to the latest Business and Economy Class cabins.

From 1 June, Emirates’ flight EK153 will depart Dubai to Copenhagen at 14:50hrs, arriving at 19:45hrs. The return flight, EK154, will depart Copenhagen at 21:35hrs, arriving in Dubai at 5:55hrs the following day.** The new service is optimally timed to provide seamless connections from Copenhagen to popular destinations via Dubai, to East Asia including, Bangkok, Bali, Manila, Tokyo Haneda and Phuket as well as convenient links to Colombo and Male. In addition, the service introduces new connections to key African cities such as Nairobi and Entebbe. Passengers travelling from key global cities, such as Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Delhi and Bangalore will also benefit from the additional frequency to the Danish capital, with convenient onward connection times through Dubai.

From 1 July, Emirates’ flight EK778 departing Dubai at 10:25 hrs, arriving in Cape Town at 18:05 hrs; the return flight, EK779, will depart Cape Town at 20:00 hrs and arrive in Dubai at 07:25 hrs the following morning. The third frequency offers travel options with optimised connections from/to London, Dublin, Bombay, Brussels, Australasia and key Asian markets, serving both leisure and corporate travel demand.

Emirates’ double daily Cape Town service has seen consistently high load factors over the past year, particularly during peak periods. Inbound demand from the GCC continues to grow, while outbound traffic to Europe and the US East Coast remains strong.

From 1 July, Emirates’ flight EK390 will depart Dubai to Phuket at 22:40hrs, arriving at 08:10hrs the following day. The return flight, EK391, will depart Phuket at 10:00hrs, arriving in Dubai at 13:05hrs. Travellers will benefit from additional travel options to the popular resort destination, which offers an early morning arrival ideal for those connecting from Europe including Manchester, Amsterdam, London, Paris and Frankfurt as well as Kuwait and Bahrain via Dubai. The new flight will also provide convenient onward connection times from Phuket to key gateways across Europe and the Middle East, including Madrid, Munich, Birmingham, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Edinburgh, Zurich and Amman.

The airline will also operate its A350 to Rome and Taipei from 1 May.

Planned Premium Economy route expansions:

Africa 

• Addis Ababa: From 1 March*, the retrofitted 3-class Boeing 777-200LR will operate daily on EK723/724.
• Cape Town: the third daily flight on the Dubai-Cape Town route, announced at the 2025 Dubai Airshow, will now operate with a next-gen Emirates A350 from 1 July 2026.

 

Europe & North America

• Barcelona and Mexico City: Emirates will operate its EK187/188 service with a retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from 1 February. EK255/256, the linked service between Barcelona and Mexico City, will operate with a Premium Economy retrofitted three class Boeing 777-200LR daily from 15 February* onwards.
• Rome: The EK099/100 daily service will operate with A350 aircraft from 29 March.
• Copenhagen: Addition of a second daily service from 1 June with an Emirates A350, as EK153/154.

 

Asia

• Cochin: From 29 January, two of the seven-weekly services (Thursday and Sunday) on EK530/531 between Dubai and Cochin will operate with a retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR.
• Karachi: Starting 1 March*, Emirates’ retrofitted three-class Boeing 777-200LR will begin operating daily on EK606/607.
• Taipei: Emirates will operate its retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR on the EK386/387 daily service from 15 March* until 30 April and, from 1 May onwards, those services will operate with the airline’s A350 aircraft.
• Phuket: A third daily service between Dubai and Phuket will come into effect from 1 July on EK 390/391.

 

Australia

• Brisbane: From 29 March, daily flights on EK EK430/431 will be operated by a retrofitted four-class Boeing 777-300ER, joining the A380 retrofitted service introduced last year.

 

Middle East

• Basra: The Thursday service on EK947/948 will transition to a retrofitted four-class Boeing 777-300ER from 29 January.
• Kuwait City: The EK859/860 daily service between Dubai and Kuwait City will operate with a retrofitted Boeing 777 from 1 February until 30 April and from 1 May onwards the service will operate with an Emirates A350.
• Tehran: Effective 29 March, the retrofitted B777 in a four-class configuration will operate daily flights on EK979/980.

 

Tickets can be booked on www.Emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents as well as Emirates’ retail stores.

* Aircraft deployment may be advanced if released earlier from refurbishment.

** All times are local.