On 25th January 2000, the first Emirates flight to Bahrain took off from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.
The landing of the B777-200 was a huge milestone for the airline, and two decades has only seen the route growing in success.
From that first flight 20 years ago, over 6.7 million passengers have been carried by Emirates planes to Bahrain via the Dubai route – a figure that is more than four times that of the entire population of Bahrain.
Emirates is still playing a crucial role in serving the communities of Bahrain and aiding passengers to make seamless connections to a network that contains more than 150 destinations all over the world.
The airline has been slowly but surely increasing its presence within the kingdom, with the two daily services having been increased to four daily flights.
Emirates remains committed to delivering the very best service possible in regard to convenient schedules, network and onboard services and products to travellers to and from Bahrain.
The senior vice president of commercial operations for Emirates in Central Asia, the Gulf and the Middle East, Adil Al Ghaith, says that the 20th anniversary sees the airline still focusing on delivering the best possible experience to customers.
The connectivity provided by Emirates was and is vital to tourism and business in Bahrain and has helped to drive important economic activity.
Al Ghaith says that the company is proud to have been serving Bahrain for 20 years and wants to see its operations continue to grow to build a market footprint of true excellence and sustain its current positive performance.
Bahrain and the UAE have long enjoyed mutual understanding and strong ties, and Emirates wishes to continue to see this positive relationship further strengthened.
Bahrain has one of the region’s most diverse economies, and Emirates is playing a crucial role by helping to support its growing trade relationship to the UAE, which in 2018 was estimated at US$878m.
The four daily flights run by Emirates, with the hold capacity of a SkyCargo plane being up to 23 tonnes per flight on a Boeing 777-300ER, have seen nearly 130,000 tonnes of cargo be transported to and from Bahrain over the course of the last five years.
Goods that Emirates have transported include the likes of fruit, equipment, machinery, meat and vegetables.
The worldwide network operated by the airline has also allowed local exporters to be able to reach emerging and developed markets in the East.
As many as 76 employees with the Emirates Group are Bahraini nationals, who are working in roles such as airport services, cabin crew, flight deck and more.
Nearly 47% of those workers have been employed by the Emirates Group for at least a decade.
Anyone who travels from the UAE to Bahrain or vice versa should make sure that they are covered by travel insurance.
Travel insurance ensures that unplanned events such as lost luggage or cancelled flights will not have an overly adverse financial impact on travellers.
