Business & Finance Club - Dubai: Emirates has rounded off a series of European route launches by starting flights to Madrid, the airline said Sunday.

EK141 took off yesterday morning to the airline's 104th destination, starting the only non-stop, scheduled passenger link between Dubai and Spain, home of the Fifa World Cup winners.

Salem Obaidullah, Emirates Senior Vice-President of Commercial Operations for Europe and Russian Federation, said: "Madrid is our third new European route this year, and together they bring an extra 42 flights per week in and out of the region. The interest in previous years in us starting a service to Spain has certainly been reflected in the strong forward bookings. Now is our chance to bring the superb Emirates' product to the Spanish market."

Amsterdam was Emirates' first new route to Europe this year, launched on May 1. Prague followed on July 1. Elsewhere, the airline opened a new link to Tokyo in March and flights to Dakar begin on September 1.

Three-course offering

EK141 departs from Dubai daily at 7.50am and arrives in Madrid at 1.45pm. EK 142 leaves the Spanish capital at 3.25pm and touches down in Dubai at 12.30am the following day.

On the cargo side, Emirates SkyCargo has been operating Boeing 747 freighter flights to Spain since 2006. Each year, SkyCargo transports more than 7,000 tonnes of fashion garments from Zaragoza to Dubai.

Ram Menen, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice-President, Cargo, said: "The Madrid flight is a tremendous opportunity for us to build on the success of a firmly established trade route and further strengthen the economic ties between Spain and the UAE... Dubai has built a strong reputation as the shopping capital of the Middle East, creating a huge demand for top Spanish clothing labels which continues to grow."

A380 in China

Also yesterday, Emirates marked the arrival of flight EK306 at Beijing Capital International Airport, being its first scheduled Airbus A380 service to China.

The world's largest commercial aircraft landed in the world's most populous country to a water cannon welcome, with VIPs from Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 3 and the gathered media looking on.