Emirates has confirmed that Kuwait and Bahrain will be the second and third destinations for its brand-new Airbus A350-900 from January 8, 2024.
The first Emirates Airbus A350 flight is scheduled for January 3, 2024, when the aircraft departs Dubai International Airport (DXB) for Edinburgh Airport (EDI) in Scotland.
Emirates has previously announced that Bahrain, Muscat and Kuwait, Lyon and Bologna in Europe, and Colombo, Mumbai and Ahmedabad in West Asia would be among the A350’s first destinations.
However, on December 31, 2024, the Dubai flag carrier said it was bringing forward the deployment of its Airbus A350 to Kuwait and Bahrain.
Rolling out the Airbus A350
The first Emirates Airbus A350 was officially unveiled on November 27, 2024, in Dubai after leaving the Airbus factory in Toulouse.
In recent days the aircraft, registered A6-EXA, appears to have been undergoing further test flights in preparation for the first commercial flight on January 3, 2024.
According to flightradar24, A6-EXA flew from Dubai to Kuwait Airport (KWI) on December 31, 2024, and then returned to DXB around two hours later.
The Emirates A350 will operate on EK853 and EK854 to Kuwait. EK 853 departs Dubai at 01:25, arriving in Kuwait at 02:15 while the return flight, EK 854 leaves Kuwait at 03:40, arriving in Dubai at 06:25.
The Emirates A350 will operate on two of the three daily flights to Bahrain. EK 837 departs Dubai at 08:20, arriving in Bahrain at 08:40. The return flight, EK 838, departs Bahrain at 10:00, arriving back to Dubai at 12:15.
The second flight operated by the Airbus A350, EK 839, takes off at 16:00, arriving in Bahrain at 16:20. EK 840 leaves Bahrain at 17:45, arriving back in Dubai at 20:00.