Emirates Returns to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires
Emirates has resumed its Dubai-Rio-Buenos Aires route after more than two years of suspension
Photo: Courtesy of Agustin Diaz Gargiulo
After a two-year suspension, Emirates has resumed its flights to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. The airline had launched its first-ever service to the Argentinean capital, with a stop in Rio de Janeiro, in 2012 but was suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. But on October 9, Emirates relaunched its link with the two iconic South American destinations for the first time in 32 months.
Emirates will be using its Boeing 777-200LR for the route, which has a total capacity of 356 passengers, including up to eight private suites in its world-renowned First Class cabin.
The resumption of this route means that Emirates now flies to four major destinations across Latin America from its hub in Dubai. Including Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, Emirates also operates flights to Mexico City (MEX) via Barcelona (BCN) and nonstop flights to Sao Paulo (GRU). In total, Emirates now flies to more than 130 destinations across the globe—accounting for more than 90% of its pre-pandemic network.
Photo: Courtesy of Unleashed Agency / Unsplash
The flights are scheduled to run four times per week, with flight EK247 leaving Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 8 AM and finishing the first leg at Rio de Janeiro/Galeao International Airport (GIG) at 3:25 PM. It then leaves Rio at 5:10 PM, finally touching down at Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) at 8:40 PM.
The return trip, flight EK248, is scheduled to leave Buenos Aires at 10:20 PM, touching down in Rio at 1:10 AM. For the final leg of the journey, the flights are scheduled to leave the Brazilian city at 2:55 AM, landing in Dubai at 11:35 PM.
Emirates passengers flying from the Middle East to South America can also take advantage of the carrier’s codeshare agreements in the region. The U.A.E. flag carrier currently has partnerships with LATAM, Avianca, Copa, Azul, and G.O.L., which means passengers can easily buy tickets to dozens of Latin American destinations and make seamless connections between flights on either airline.
Emirates is not the only major international airline increasing flights to South America, with passenger demand rebounding strongly after the pandemic. U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines has recently boosted the number of direct flights to Buenos Aires from its Atlanta hub to seven flights per week, up from five per week. It has also increased the frequency of its Atlanta to Santiago de Chile route from three flights per week to one daily.
Meanwhile, LATAM Brasil has recently opened a new route between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, doubling the number of flights it operates between Brazil and Argentina.
