Now in English :

http://www.businesstraveller.com/new...-mexico-flight

About as large as DXB-PTY? :D

Some more changes in December
http://airlineroute.net/2016/02/25/ek-dec16/

New flight to HAN and RGN from 3rd August (DXB-HAN-RGN-DXB)

edit: they have traffic rights between HAN and RGN! 3 class 777 until 29th October and then 2 class 777

Here is the schedule:

EK388 DXB RGN 0250 1105
EK388 RGN HAN 1235 1450
EK389 HAN RGN 2250 0020+1
EK389 RGN DXB 0150 0505

Daily with B77W.

The last of the A330s, A340s, and 777-200ERs will be retired by year end. The average fleet age with drop to 5.7 years by January 2017. By December 2017 EK will fly solely A380s, 777-200LRs, and 777-300ERs.

I remember back in 2010 when EK said " by 2013/2014 all A330 and A340" will be gone....well, several are still flying around.

I can imagine that all A340 will leave the fleet this year; but some A330 and 777/200ER will be kept.

Is not easy for EK to replace planes and at the same time increase frequencies and add new destinations!

Inaugural flight will be operated with the A380.

True, but they're also running out of space at DXB to add frequencies, thus the only way to increase capacity is to increase average aircraft size. As per the most recent press release on the subject it was made very clear what aircraft will be retired this calendar year:

http://www.emirates.com/english/abou...edule-for-2016

from 27th March EK119/120 DXB-SAW from daily A332 to daily B773

Is that one-time only for an A380 to AKL?

Yes, they postponed the flight. Due to aircraft availability.

One-time for the nonstop flight to AKL. DXB-Australia-AKL is served by A380 via BNE, SYD and MEL (i.e. 3 EK A380s arrive and depart AKL around the same time every day).

RGN new route
 

Being based in RGN this is exciting. Is it likely that some sale fares will be loaded for the launch? QR's model to RGN is high fares and empty planes 3-4 days per week.

India declines additional seats to Dubai .... weird strategy?
 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/51047843.cms

This is really bad news for EK.... with a softer economy and loads under pressure they could use more Indian traffic (India is one of the places seriously benefitting from low oil). Not to mention using the A330s EK needs to retire.

What really confuses me is the EK/FZ India strategy though.... FZ is using ~5,500 of Dubai's 65,200 weekly seat entitlement. The Indian government's argument is that Indian carriers don't use their full quota, so no negotiations till then. Those guys are close (by my calculation using ~60,000 weekly seats). SO.... would it not be smarter for FZ to pull out of India? Benefits I see are:

1. Indian carriers (more point-to-point except 9W) should be incentivized to hurry up capacity addition and use up their full quota, necessitating earlier negotiations. Leaving a little something on the table could be smart then, as Dubai could turn the screws harder in subsequent negotiations. If India needs those seats more, Dubai could push for a step change vs small increments. And India will at some point need those seats more .... if Dubai-India fares start rising/seats become tough to get, lot more noise in India than in Dubai!

2. EK/FZ serve quite a few overlapping routes....EK needs to upgauge capacity anyway as they renew their fleet (I'm not an expert, but it might be better economics/use of Dubai scarce Dubai runway slots?)

3. EK spin doctors could make a song and dance about not being able to offer lower fare services (some FZ pullouts will cause a stir, e.g. Lucknow in UP where there is an absolutely crucial state election coming up) because of fleet constraints and obligation to provide best product etc etc.

Unless they are also using FZ as a connecting airline for random low yield Indian traffic to CE/secondary Saudi Arabian markets, I don't understand the strategy.... someone smarter with any thoughts?