Emirates is resuming flights to Edinburgh – and bringing a brand new A350

Emirates has announced the resumption of flights from Edinburgh.

The first flight will be on 4th November.

The existing Emirates services from Glasgow will continue. The airline will be competing with Qatar Airways at Edinburgh for passengers to Asia and beyond. Etihad pulled out of Edinburgh in 2018 after three years.

Flights from Edinburgh will operate daily. The times are:

• Depart Edinburgh at 20.40, arriving in Dubai at 08.05

• Depart Dubai at 14.50, arriving in Edinburgh at 19.05

The Edinburgh service will use an A350-900. This is an interesting move, with the aircraft being a brand new addition to the Emirates fleet.

It’s so new, in fact, that we don’t know what Business Class seat it will use.

Emirates has 65 x A350-900 aircraft on order which represents a 25% addition to its current 250-strong fleet. In the short term they will plug the gap caused by the long-delayed Boeing 777X, of which Emirates has over 200 on order, and in the long term they will provide capacity as the A380 fleet begins to be retired.

The first A350 is due to be delivered in August, with the first batch of 10 being in service by March 2025. All 65 are due to arrive by 2028.

The first batch are being delivered in a 3-class configuration (32 Business, 21 Premium Economy, 259 Economy) with no First Class. Premium economy is likely to be new or identical to Emirates’ premium economy seat on the A380, which we reviewed here.

We know that a new Business Class seat from manufacturer Safran is being developed for the A350 and the refurbished Boeing 777-300ER fleets. There are no images to date but the A350 seat map shows a staggered 1-2-1 configuration in the standard style, with the seat area alternating left and right from row to row to allow a cubby hole for your feet when sleeping.

It’s possible that it is the Safran seat being installed by Qantas on its A350 fleet. This isn’t bad at all as you can see below and includes a door:

The fleet will also feature enhanced wifi, which should be a major improvement on the current OnAir service.

As well as Edinburgh, the A350 is also scheduled for:

• Bahrain from 15th September
• Kuwait from 16th September
• Ahmedabad from 27th October
• Mumbai from 27th October
• Bologna from 1st December
• Lyon from 1st December
• Muscat from 1st December
• Colombo from 1st January 2025

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How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Emirates Skywards does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Emirates Skywards miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 15,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 37,500 Emirates Skywards miles

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 7,500 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 4:3 into Emirates Skywards miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 0.75 Emirates Skywards miles

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, not just with Emirates but with any airline.