EMIRATES CELEBRATES SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVITY IN BOLOGNA

Next week, on 3rd November, Emirates will celebrate its seven years of operation at Bologna Airport. Over these years, Bologna has become one of Emirates most strategic hotspots, having served more than 804,000 passengers on over 3,200 flights to and from this city, one of Emirates' four gateways in Italy together with Rome, Milan and Venice. This is an important milestone for the company that strengthen its partnership with Italy after the mark of August, when Emirates celebrated 30 years of service in Rome.

The collaboration between Emirates and the city of Bologna has lasted over the years thanks to the willingness on both sides to invest in the potential of the region: Bologna offered an avant-garde structure and a lively and heterogeneous network while Emirates facilitated air traffic to and from Dubai and helped local small and medium enterprises as well as big companies to reach the most vital markets in the world. Especially during the Covid period, Emirates made a significant contribution to the local economy thanks to the transport of goods such as cars, medicines, food, auto parts, luxury.
Today, Emirates is still the only carrier which operates a direct route from Bologna to Dubai and is the natural connector of goods and people from the Via Emilia (from Piacenza to Rimini) to abroad.

The airline has returned to fly at full capacity to Bologna: Emirates' Bologna - Dubai flight operates 5 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and is operated on a Boeing 777 which includes 8 seats in first class, 42 in business class and 304 in economy. Emirates flight EK094 departs Bologna at 3.35pm and arrives in Dubai at 11.30pm. The return flight EK093 departs Dubai at 8.55am and arrives at Bologna airport at 12.40.

“We are very proud to celebrate 7 years of presence in Bologna” - said Flavio Ghiringhelli, Emirates Country Manager in Italy. “All these years, we have been constantly committed with the city to offer a wide range of destinations that could enhance business travel for small and medium-sized companies to over 130 destinations around the world, and, at the same time, we worked hard to favorite destinations for tourists who from Bologna can reach exotic destinations and discover new cultures. We will continue to meet the needs of our passengers by raising the bar in terms of comfort, service and quality.”

“We’re really happy to celebrate 7 years of Emirates presence in Bologna” said Nazareno Ventola, Aeroporto G. Marconi di Bologna CEO and MD. “Since their first flight in November 2015 our partnership has become ever stronger, improving significantly intercontinental air connectivity from Bologna to the world, to the benefit of our 11 million resident’s catchment area and with a valuable impact on our local economy. We also share with Emirates the vision of a sustainable aviation future and we’re excited to consolidate our partnership even more in the coming future”.

Sustainability and environmental efficiency are the cornerstones of all Emirates Group activities, too. For example, the airline is committed to more sustainable water management. Emirates uses the 'aircraft dry wash' technique to clean its aircraft. As indicated by the name, little or no water is involved in cleaning the aircraft, which contrasts with conventional methods of aircraft cleaning. This technique saves - in a fleet of 260 aircraft - over 11 million liters of water every year. Emirates has therefore eliminated plastic on board (by the end of this year, the airline will have saved 150 million single-use plastic items from landfill) and launched the "Think Before You Print" initiative, which led to reduction of over 1,000 tons of paper since switching to digital menus.

All these contents have been part of a corporate training that Emirates hosted in Dubai from 22nd of October to 26th of October. The training was addressed to the travel managers of main companies in Emilia-Romagna, who had the chance to learn more about the reality and the market of the capital of the United Arab Emirates. On the occasion, guests had the opportunity to fly with the unique Emirates Boeing 777 Game Changer, which boasts a number of industry firsts, like virtual windows, zero-gravity seat positions, as well as personal climate and mood lighting controls. Before taking off guests had also the opportunity to enjoy the premium services provided by Aeroporto di Bologna, the Marconi Business Lounge and the Vip service YouFirst, with dedicated staff and private transfer to the aircraft.

Aeroporto G. Marconi di Bologna strongly believes in the values of sustainability as a strategic lever in the airport system's development. The company's commitment is based on three central ESG pillars: Environmental sustainability (Planet), Social sustainability (People) and Economic sustainability (Prosperity). To achieve its sustainable development goals, Aeroporto G. Marconi di Bologna implemented a Sustainability Plan that includes concrete actions to mitigate environmental impacts and protect natural resources, improve the quality of life and well-being of the surrounding community, and provide safe and inclusive workplaces.