Strengthening its operations in West Africa, Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, has launched services to Abidjan, capital of Côte d’Ivoire. This is the airline’s 79th destination on its global network, in which Malta is also included, and its third gateway in the West African region after Lagos and Accra.

Emirates flies four times a week from Dubai to Abidjan via Accra, every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Abidjan enhances the airline’s African network to 13 destinations in 12 countries.

Emirates’ services from Abidjan will provide Ivorian traders and businessmen access to new markets in the Middle East, Europe and Far East, via the airline’s hub in Dubai. The new service will also help facilitate sharing of cultural experiences and stimulate international interest in Côte d’Ivoire’s investment and tourism opportunities.

Abidjan is a key component of Emirates’ West African expansion strategy and opens up the airline’s global network to large areas of West Africa including The Republic of Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Through Emirates SkyCargo, the airline’s cargo division, the new service is poised to carry seafood and perishables including pineapples and mangoes to the Middle East and Europe, and to support Ivorian industry’s needs for garments, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electronics and automotive parts from India, China and the Far East.

Emirates operates four flights a week from Malta to Dubai with a stopover in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on A330-200.