Emirates has been welcomed in Russia's 'Northern Capital' yesterday after the airline's inaugural flight arrived from Dubai.

At Pulkovo Airport, EK 137 was met by state and airport representatives, headed by Alexei Bakirey, Chairman of the Committee for St Petersburg Transport-Transit Policy and Sergey Emdin, General Director of Northern Capital Gateway.

"We made significant efforts to ensure the successful start of Emirates'service, which represents the highest industry standards. Flights to the Northern Capital, launched by one of the world's largest airlines, supports Pulkovo's route network expansion, offering our customers an opportunity to travel all around the globe in comfort with Emirates", Mr Emdin said.

The flight's passenger profile reflected Emirates' growing network with bookings on the inaugural coming from places including Bahrain, Canada, Cyprus, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. The first flight out of St Petersburg had bookings from the UAE, Australia, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Hong Kong, Latvia and the Philippines.

Thierry Antinori, Emirates' Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide, was among the airline's senior executives on board the first flight, along with Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation and Pradeep Kumar, Senior Vice President, Cargo Revenue Optimisation and Systems.

Mohammed A. Ahli, Director General, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Captain lbrahim Hamad Abdulla, Passport Administration Control, Dubai International and Ghassan El Aridi CEO, Alpha Holidays, Tours & Travel, also travelled as part of the VIP delegation aboard the A340-300.

The Petersburg service, EK 137, leaves Dubai daily at 1040hrs and arrives in St Petersburg at 1715hrs. From St. Petersburg, EK 138, departs at 1845 and lands in Dubai at 0040hrs the next day.