It has been 10 years since Emirates decided to operate its Fifth-Freedom service, between Milan to New York.
How has it done?
The answer is in the numbers for Emirates, with them flying over 6,000 flights in both directions, over 1.8 million passengers and 37u,000 tonnes of cargo, with the airline dedicated double-decker Airbus A380s on the route.
The route connects Dubai to New York, with a stop in Milan to maximise the utilisation, as well as traffic on the route. Emirates notes that was an underserved route when they commenced the service, with both business and tourism.
It seems to have held its own, with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, ITA Airways and Neos all having a Milan – JFK service now (and of course, United Airlines serving Newark).
Here’s what the airline offers on the route.
The direct service between Milan and New York, which operates daily, the airline facilitates convenient connections for Italian diasporas, students, business travellers and tourists between Italy and the US.
According to the airline, the route is highly popular among travellers flying from Italy into New York and onwards to other destinations with a significant Italian diaspora presence. Emirates also offers increased connectivity for US travellers connecting to Milan and onwards to the airline’s global network of over 140 destinations.
Besides the service between Milan and New York, Emirates operates two additional transatlantic flights between the Americas and Europe, connecting Athens and Newark through a direct flight, in addition to linking Mexico City and Barcelona.
Today, Emirates operates flights out of Rome, Millan, Venice and Bologna to its hub in Dubai (42 flights a week), as well as the fifth-freedom flight to New York (7 flights a week. Meanwhile, the USA is served via Boston Logan International Airport, New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport, Seattle Tacoma Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. San Francisco International Airport and Miami International Airport.
Economics makes things work
Emirates is pretty ruthless with its route network, scaling operations as needed – as well as scaling back. Fifth-Freedom routes have been typically in the past used to provide additional capacity on routes where there isn’t the demand for a full flight.
It seems that Emirates exploited a gap in the market on routes which have latent demand, and combined it with popular routes to ensure it can manage its customer’s expectations and deliver the experience they want.
With them thriving with the competition at Milan, it’s a positive sign for the future as the route continues to pick up the passengers who need to go to New York or Dubai.
Images, Emirates.
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Might want to note that currently, appears to be served by a 777 and not an A-380. I was contemplating booking and connecting in NYC, (Fuel surcharges on award flights are considerably lower to/from JFKMilan than elsewhere, and “cash” pricing is competitive) rather than flying non-stop to my home airport. However, the 777 isn’t nearly as nice as the A-380, and to me, it’s not worth the connection. Maybe they’ll change back to the A-380 soon.