UAE-UK travel: Emirates deploys first A350 to London Gatwick with Premium Economy launch
Evening Dubai departure adds flexibility for business and leisure travellers
DUBAI – Emirates has launched its fourth daily flight to London Gatwick, marking the first time the airline’s new Airbus A350 has entered service at a London airport and introducing its Premium Economy cabin to the Gatwick route.
The new frequency adds to the existing three daily A380 services between Dubai and Gatwick and expands the carrier’s overall UK and London operations.
With the additional service, Emirates now operates 146 weekly flights to the UK, including 90 to London across Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. The latest schedule increase provides more departure options and connection flexibility for passengers travelling between Dubai and the British capital.
New Gatwick service
The new daily rotation operates as flight EK069, departing Dubai at 17:05 and arriving at London Gatwick at 20:50. The return service, EK070, leaves Gatwick at 23:55 and reaches Dubai at 11:00 the next day. The evening departure from Dubai adds a complementary timing window to the existing Gatwick schedule, supporting both corporate and leisure demand.
Gatwick becomes the first London gateway to receive the Airbus A350 in Emirates colours. The aircraft is deployed on the fourth daily frequency while the other three daily Gatwick services continue to be operated by the A380.
Cabin configuration
The Emirates A350-900 serving Gatwick is configured in three classes. It offers 32 lie-flat Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 layout, 28 seats in Premium Economy, and 238 seats in Economy Class. The Premium Economy cabin’s introduction gives Gatwick passengers access to the airline’s higher comfort tier that sits between Business and Economy.
Across premium cabins, the aircraft features several new design and technology elements. Business Class includes wireless charging facilities, while premium class windows are fitted with electric blinds featuring the Emirates Ghaf tree motif when closed. Customers can also access digital inflight menus through their seatback screens.
The latest version of the airline’s ice inflight entertainment platform is installed on the A350, offering 4K and 4K HDR displays on touchscreen monitors. Connectivity is supported through ViaSat’s Global Xpress satellite network, with upgraded wireless access points designed to deliver significantly higher onboard bandwidth and more stable Wi-Fi performance for a larger number of users simultaneously.
Emirates’ UK network
London Gatwick is the second UK destination to be served by the Emirates A350. Edinburgh became the first in the airline’s global network to receive the aircraft when daily A350 operations began there in January 2025.
The A350 is now operating on routes to multiple cities worldwide, including Adelaide, Montreal, Oslo, Lyon, Bologna, Dammam, Mumbai, Edinburgh, Bahrain, Colombo, Baghdad, Hangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuwait, Muscat, Tunis, Amman, Istanbul and Ahmedabad. Emirates plans to extend A350 operations to six more destinations in 2026: Rome, Copenhagen, Taipei, Phuket, Cape Town and Helsinki, with Helsinki scheduled to receive A350 service from its launch in October 2026.
Emirates has served the UK market since 1987 and currently operates a mix of A380 and A350 aircraft across its British network. Its UK schedule includes 48 weekly A380 flights to London Heathrow, four daily services to Gatwick including three A380 and one A350, twice daily flights to Stansted, three daily A380 services to Manchester, double daily flights to Birmingham including one A380, and daily flights to Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.