Emirates Expands London Heathrow Operations, Boosting Options for African Winter Travel
Emirates is set to open up even more opportunities for seamless travel between Africa and the United Kingdom by introducing six additional weekly flights to London Heathrow beginning 26 October 2025. This strategic expansion, timed perfectly for the busy year-end period, comes in response to record-breaking demand and sustained growth in traffic on the London-Dubai route.
Currently, Emirates operates six daily flights between Dubai and London Heathrow, all serviced by the iconic Airbus A380. The newly announced flights will increase frequency to an impressive tally, providing greater flexibility for African travelers heading to the UK for business, leisure, or family visits. These extra flights will run every day of the week except Friday, using the popular Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Each aircraft features a three-class configuration—First, Business, and Economy—offering over 350 seats each way, ensuring premium comfort and a range of fare options to suit different budgets.
For African tour operators and hospitality partners, this expanded schedule is a significant advantage. It means more inventory to sell during the lucrative winter travel season, with well-timed options for clients seeking to avoid the congestion and higher fares that often accompany peak periods. The additional flights also create new connectivity possibilities for regional feeder markets, making London even more accessible from across Sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the standout features of the new schedule is its convenient overnight departure from London Heathrow to Dubai. This timing is designed to optimize onward connections for passengers traveling to a range of popular destinations, including Durban in South Africa, as well as key Asian hubs like Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Jakarta. Whether clients are looking to extend their UK trip to Asia or return home via Dubai, Emirates’ growing network offers seamless solutions.
Additionally, the enhanced London services are meticulously synchronized to benefit travelers coming from cities across West Asia (such as Ahmedabad, Lahore, Maldives, Hyderabad, and Chennai), as well as from the Chinese mainland (Beijing and Shanghai), and several Middle Eastern cities including Bahrain, Dammam, and Riyadh. For African wholesalers, this connectivity means increased opportunities to package multi-destination itineraries, blending African, European, and Asian experiences with minimal layover times.
The detailed flight timings are as follows: Flight EK41 will depart Dubai on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 13:40hrs, arriving at London Heathrow at 17:40hrs. On Thursdays, EK41 leaves Dubai at 12:55hrs, reaching London Heathrow at 16:55hrs. The return leg, EK42, departs London Heathrow at 22:35hrs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, and at 21:20hrs on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, arriving in Dubai the following morning. All times are local, ensuring smooth transfers and easy onward planning for guests originating from or traveling through the African continent.
With these added frequencies, Emirates is further solidifying its position as the preferred carrier between Africa and the UK, especially for those prioritizing comfort, reliability, and global reach. Enhanced frequencies at Emirates’ London hubs—including both Heathrow and Gatwick—will bring the airline’s total weekly UK services to 90 flights by early next year. The carrier is not stopping there: from 8 February 2026, a fourth daily flight to London Gatwick will be introduced, operated by the airline’s latest Airbus A350 aircraft. This modern addition promises an elevated passenger experience and additional capacity during a period of traditionally high demand.
By February 2026, Emirates will be flying to the UK with an impressive 146 weekly flights, servicing not only London Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted, but also extending its reach to regional gateways such as Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. For the African travel sector, this robust schedule offers unprecedented access to the UK market, supporting both outbound and inbound tourism and facilitating smoother business exchanges.
The ripple effects of Emirates’ network growth will be felt across the African continent. As more passengers from West, East, and Southern Africa connect through Dubai, the increased flight options translate into shorter travel times, more competitive fares, and greater convenience for connecting to key European and Asian destinations. For African hotels, DMCs, and tour operators, this presents an opportunity to develop new products and itineraries that leverage Dubai as a central hub, attracting both leisure and corporate travelers with flexible routing and world-class service.
With the UK remaining a top source market for many African destinations—and with growing demand for VFR (visiting friends and relatives), educational travel, and business trips—these additional flights are likely to stimulate even greater interest in Africa-bound journeys. In return, African travelers will benefit from enhanced access not only to London but to the UK’s regional cities and beyond, thanks to Emirates’ extensive partnerships with rail and regional airline networks within the United Kingdom.
This expansion underscores the dynamic changes reshaping air connectivity between Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. As airlines like Emirates continue to respond to market demand with increased capacity and strategic scheduling, African travel professionals must stay agile—ready to capture the surge in bookings, create innovative packages, and deliver seamless travel experiences for clients seeking to explore, connect, and do business on a global scale.
