A380, B777 and A350: Emirates to deploy all three of its widebody types to Cape Town from July 2026
January 9, 2026
Emirates will deploy its Airbus A350 fleet on its Dubai to Cape Town route when the carrier introduces a third daily service at the start of July 2026.
The route becomes the carrier’s first assignment of the A350-900 to one of its Southern African services and also marks the first time an African destination sees service by all three widebody aircraft types with the Emirates fleet – the Airbus A350, the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777-300ER.
The announcement comes as the carrier unveiled a raft of additional services and frequency increases for the northern summer of 2026, as well as an expanded rollout of its premium economy product to over ten more cities across the company’s global network.
Cape Town to welcome the Emirates Airbus A350
On 8 January, Dubai-based megacarrier Emirates revealed that its recently announced third daily service on the Dubai to Cape Town route would be served by one of the carrier’s fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft.
The introduction of the newest addition to the Emirates fleet will mark the first time that the A350 has been deployed to South Africa and also the first time that the carrier has sent all three of its aircraft types to one city.
The airline currently has 16 of the type in service, with the first having joined the fleet in November 2024. It has a further seven aircraft to be delivered to the carrier in the coming months. Each accommodates 312 passengers in a three-class layout.
The carrier already deploys a Boeing 777-300ER on its EK770/771 daily service to the South African city, while its EK772/772 service will be operated by the Airbus A380 superjumbo during the summer of 2026.
Commenting on the deployment, Emirates’ Regional Manager of Southern Africa, Afzal Parambil, said, “With the deployment of the next-gen A350 on the third daily service between Dubai and Cape Town, South Africa becomes the only African nation on our network to be served by all three aircraft types on the Emirates fleet.”
“This fleet mix provides the greatest flexibility for our customers to travel in and out of our three gateways, while still providing travellers with the world-renowned Emirates’ experience, on every flight.”
Three flights daily between Dubai and Cape Town
Emirates announced the start of its third daily return service to Cape Town at the Dubai Airshow in November 2025. The route is 4,375 miles (7,000 km) in length and takes around nine hours to complete each leg
Flight EK778 will depart Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 10:25 local time from 1 July 2026, arriving at Cape Town International Airport (CPT) at 18:05. The return flight, EK779, will depart Cape Town at 20:00 and arrive in Dubai at 07:25 the following morning.
According to an airline statement, “The evening departure adds an overnight travel option and is strategically timed for optimal connectivity with key long-haul destinations popular with South African travellers such as Thailand, Indonesia, France, Switzerland, and key points in East Asia such as the Philippines and China.”
“Beyond leisure travel, the new frequency creates new opportunities for corporate travellers to reach key markets in Asia, creating mutually beneficial business opportunities.”
Other global cities to see the Emirates A350 for the first time
In addition to introducing the A350 to South Africa for the first time, Emirates also announced additional A350 deployments on new daily services to Copenhagen and Phuket from Dubai.
From 1 June, a second daily service will be introduced between Dubai and Copenhagen (Denmark), while a third daily service between Dubai and Phuket (Thailand) will come into effect from 1 July. The airline will also operate its A350 to Rome (Italy) and Taipei (Taiwan) from 1 May.
More flights bring more premium economy cabins
Simultaneously, Emirates also announced that it will be introducing its premium economy on board product to a further range of destinations during 2026. This will bring the total number of destinations receiving premium economy service on the Emirates network to 84 cities by July.
In Africa, in addition to Cape Town, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia will receive premium economy service from 1 March on a retrofitted three-class Boeing 777-200LR operating the daily EK723/724 rotation.
Meanwhile, the carrier’s Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico City connecting service (EK255/256) will be served using a retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from 1 February. Rome and Copenhagen will also see the arrival of premium economy once the A350 is deployed on these routes.
In Asia, Cochin in India will see premium economy on two of its seven weekly flights from 29 January, through the use of a retrofitted Boeing 777-200LR. Karachi in Pakistan will also see retrofitted three-class Boeing 777-200LRs begin operating daily on the EK606/607 service from Dubai.
Other cities worldwide to receive Emirates’ premium economy service for the first time in 2026 will include Brisbane (Australia), Basra (Iraq), Kuwait City (Kuwait), and Tehran (Iran).
Featured image: Franz Massard / stock.adobe.co
