Bound for Dubai via Lagos, the flight is scheduled to arrive at the Emirate at 05:35 today.

With the start of its daily operations, Emirates has once again reinforced its commitment to providing Ghanaian travelers with unprecedented connection to the Middle East, Europe and North America.

Inbound flight EK 783 took off from the ultra-modern Dubai International Airport at 07:30 yesterday and arrived at Accra's Kotoka International Airport at 13:40

The service was operated by an Emirates Airbus A330-200 in a three-class configuration with 12 First, 42 Business and 183 Economy Class seats. Fauad Caunhye, Emirates Regional Manager West Africa said: "I would like to thank the Government of Ghana and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for giving Emirates the opportunity to operate an additional frequency and make its service a daily operation.

This comes at a very appropriate time when trade relations between Ghana and Dubai have been on an upswing."

In 2003, the non-oil foreign trade between Dubai and Ghana stood at USD 41.7 million. Natural and cultured pearls, precious metals, precious and semi-precious stones were the top five exports from Ghana, while prepared foodstuff, chemical products, textiles, machinery and mechanical appliances constituted the key imports into Ghana.

Mr. Caunhye added: "Emirates' additional services will boost air links between the two countries and will also open up a worldwide network of 70-plus destinations to Ghanaian traders and businessmen, keen to find new markets for their local products and services."

SkyCargo has helped promote trade and distribution of West African farmers' produce such as fruits, vegetables, handicrafts and local food items to the Gulf Region and many points beyond via the airlines's hub in Dubai.

"The new service will offer our Ghanaian customers and their trading partners across our network significant additional capacity, and add momentum to the trade process" added Mr. Caunhye.

In the past few years, Ghana has assumed a growing importance within the Emirates network. The airline started flying to the country in January 2004 when it launched services to Accra. After a year, on 27th March, Emirates stepped up frequencies by introducing two additional flights.

Earlier this year, Emirates set up a new office in Accra to serve as its West Africa regional hub. In line with the airline's global standards for service delivery, the new office allows staff to effectively handle a larger volume of customers. It also has provision for further expansion to cater for increasing demand.