Only days after Canada and the United Arab Emirates signed an enhanced air services agreement, Emirates said on Friday that it would add more flights to its Dubai to Toronto route. The commercial aviation industry in Canada is strictly regulated, so foreign airlines aren’t always allowed to open up new routes to the country or add more flights to already-existing ones. The two national airlines of the UAE, Emirates, and Etihad Airways, had already reached the previously agreed 14 flights per week cap and were unable to introduce new services to Canada, causing demand to frequently outpace supply.
The cap on weekly flights has been raised to 21 for each nation under the enhanced air services agreement, which was signed on Wednesday. Emirates has already made the decision to use some of its allowances by increasing its presence in Toronto. Emirates has been limited to operating a five-weekly service to Toronto and will expand the route to a daily service using the airline’s flagship Airbus A380 superjumbo. The airline announced on Friday that the new flights will enhance capacity on the Dubai to Toronto route by almost 40% and add close to 2,000 weekly seats.
“Demand arising from leisure and corporate travelers, diaspora, and students has consistently outstripped the allocated capacity,” commented Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer. “This enhanced agreement represents a turning point for us in our strategy to serve our customers better by offering more choice and flexibility and meet pent-up demand across our growing network,” Kazim continued.
The air services agreement between Canada and the UAE was initially signed in 1999, and it has not changed since it was expanded in 2018. It remains to be seen whether Emirates or Etihad will launch a new Canadian route, but there is a widespread belief that Vancouver could prove a valuable destination of interest for both airlines.