Emirates has announced it will commence service between Dubai and London Stansted from June 2018. The airline is starting confidently, with daily service from the beginning.

This is the first service by a Middle Eastern carrier from the airport. Interestingly, the Boeing 777-300ER with the brand new first class product will be used on the route.

Could London Stansted Work?

Most airlines flying from London Stansted are budget carriers such as Wizz Air, Ryanair and easyJet. In fact, Emirates will be the only airline operating outside of Europe at the facility.

There is a Stansted Express train that runs from underneath the terminal, getting to London Liverpool Street station in around 50 minutes. This means it is easy to connect to central London.


Since the expansion of London Heathrow is not going to occur for a number of years, this could be the first sign of airlines looking at other options. Emirates already fly to both Heathrow and London Gatwick, so this is their third London airport.

According to their press release, London Stansted is well placed to access the tech and pharma hubs of Cambridge and Peterborough. They clearly expect to do well here.

New First Class

Extremely interesting is the fact the airline is choosing to put their new first class on this route. This indicates they are serious about attracting wealthy passengers to the service.

Above is the video about the new first class, featuring Jeremy Clarkson from The Grand Tour. This is because the seat is inspired by Mercedes Benz, so the car slash aircraft link is right there.

London Stansted Schedule

With 7.5 million people in the London Stansted catchment area, Emirates are betting on filling their aircraft. Connections from Dubai to the world will be important for the service, as it is for all the EK services.

Flights will operate daily with EK33 leaving Dubai at 09:30, arriving at Stansted at 14:10. The return flight is EK34 and will leave Stansted at 21:10, arriving in Dubai at 07:05 the following morning.

Overall Thoughts

With London Heathrow and London Gatwick at capacity, this could be the beginning of airlines choosing to operate from London Stansted. As the airport has excellent transport links to London, this is a good thing to do.

Hopefully the service will become a success. Are you based in London? Would you choose to fly out of Stansted over Heathrow and Gatwick? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading and please leave your comments or questions below.

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Featured image by Aero Icarus from Zurich Switzerland via Wikimedia Commons.
London Stansted Image by My Other Account via Wikimedia Commons.