Emirates to relaunch flights from London Gatwick Airport in December

Whilst British Airways short-haul is saying goodbye to Gatwick, Emirates has announced that it will be returning from 10th December.

There will be one daily flight, operated by a 3-class Boeing 777-300ER.

The timings could be better but could also be a lot worse – the outbound leaves Gatwick at 13.35, meaning a 00.40 arrival into Dubai, whilst the return leaves Dubai at 07.40, landing in London at 11.40.

In theory, as a 777-300ER is scheduled, this service should see the astounding new Emirates First Class suite which I reviewed here. Pre-covid you could only get this if you were flying into London Stansted.

From 10th December, Emirates will be operating:

• 6 x daily flights to Heathrow (all A380)
• 1 x daily flight to Gatwick
• 2 x daily flights to Manchester (all A380)
• 10 x weekly flights to Birmingham
• 1 x daily flight to Glasgow
• 4 x weekly flights to Newcastle

…. for a total of 84 weekly services to the UK.

By year end, the airlines expects to be flying to 90% of its pre-covid destinations globally.

How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (December 2021)

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.  These are:

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

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Emirates Skywards miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 5,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 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 1 Emirates Skywards mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.