Holidaymakers flying off to Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney from London Heathrow with the Emirates airline will soon be doing so aboard the world’s biggest passenger aircraft.

The Dubai airline has announced it will be using the Airbus A380 for all its flights to and from London Heathrow, meaning passengers starting their flights in style with access to more than 1,200 entertainment channels and a personal satellite phone fitted to every seat.

All five of the daily flights from Heathrow will be serviced by the Airbus from February 1 next year, with Emirates already operating a daily A380 flight from Manchester to Dubai.

Salem Obaidalla, the airline’s senior vice president of commercial operations, said: “Due to high customer demand for the A380 product, soon, travellers to and from London Heathrow will be able to enjoy our flagship aircraft on every flight.”

News that Emirates will be exclusively using the Airbus A380 for all its Heathrow flights to Sydney comes as the city topped a list of the world’s best capitals in terms of design and style, with Australia voted top dream destination by readers in US travel magazine Virtuoso Life’s annual Travel Dreams survey, beating New Zealand and Italy to the title.

The double-decked Airbus four-engine jet liner can carry up to 853 passengers depending on how classes are configured and entered commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines.

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Heathrow Airport could operate more night-time flights in future, in conjunction with the UAE based airline company Emirates Airline.

The airline proposes to use their quieter Airbus A380s for overnight operations, which would increase the capacity of the airport and give customers more choice of when they’d like to fly.

The super jumbo airplane fleet may lessen noise pollution close to the airport, as it is capable of a steeper landing descent than other airplanes.

Emirates is planning its new aircraft schedules as part of its plan to increase co-operation with the UK Government.

A review of the UK’s government aviation policy is due to start taking initial responses in the summer.

Presently, Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport conduct significantly more flights per night, at 50 and 32 respectively, compared to the 15 which Heathrow is authorised to fly during the summer season, which commences in April and runs until October.

Emirates Airline is also proposing to fly seven rather than five flights to Dubai, UAE and to increase its operating hours out of the airport.

The noise regulations for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports were all set to expire in October 2012, but have recently been extended to expire in October 2014.

Earlier, UK aviation minister, Theresa Villiers, said in a statement:”As a first step to replace the current regime in 2014, we will launch a first-stage consultation later this year which will seek detailed evidence of the effectiveness of the current regime including costs and benefits and airlines’ fleet replacement plans.”

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Children still hold the balance of power when it comes to planning family time, after some 62% of parents told a survey that they are influenced by youngsters’ interests when it comes to settling upon a holiday destination.

The poll for Dubai Tourism found that while parents said that the exact details of planning a break – such as whether to fly from Stansted or Luton airport – was usually a decision made by the whole of the family, they felt that a destination which would show new things to their children and expand their horizons was desirable.

A total of 37% of those questioned in the research said that not being able to eat together at family-friendly restaurants was one thing that would put them off a hotel.

Being confined to a resort was also deemed an annoyance by 32% of parents, who said that they would not have liked the idea of being stuck in a complex with no chance to experience the local culture. The same percentage admitted that they also would not be keen on having a shortage of activities.

Other poll results showed that creating good memories rather than collecting holiday souvenirs was the most important thing parents wanted to achieve from their break, with just short of three-quarters (73%) saying that spending time together as a family was the most important objective.

Ian Scott, UK and Ireland director of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “With people having to be more cautious with cash yet also working longer hours than ever, children are at the heart of parents’ decisions when choosing their family holiday destination.”

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Middle Eastern airline Emirates is to add a new plane to its route to Dubai from London Heathrow Airport as part of plans to boost its overall capacity.

An Airbus A380 will replace the route’s current Boeing 777 from March 25 next year in a move that will make the airline the largest operator of Airbus A380s at Heathrow.

The new addition will be the fourth Airbus A380 making the journey from Heathrow to Dubai after Emirates previously announced that it will be launching its third A380 service on the route from January 24, 2012. The plane will also replace a Boeing 777 in this instance.

Heathrow is notorious for its limitations in terms of passenger numbers, but Emirates hopes to get round this by introducing more A380s, which are the world’s largest passenger planes.

Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice president of commercial operations in Europe, said: “This demonstrates the beauty of the A380 – its ability to increase our service to our passengers in style and without adding traffic to London Heathrow’s busy schedule. We would like to acknowledge the support and cooperation of the Heathrow authorities in bringing a fourth A380 to the British capital.”

The airline also has plans to add wireless internet access to all of its Airbus superjumbos in the future. It is already available on 11 of the planes, with the remaining eight due to follow.

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Holidaymakers jetting off to the Middle East this summer had better make sure they pack plenty of sunblock as temperatures have been scorching there all week.

Dubai is boasting sweltering temperatures of 45C

The area is becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination among British travellers, with many UK airports such as Stansted, Luton and Gatwick offering cheap flights out to the sun-drenched tourist trap.

And who can blame them when Dubai is boasting sweltering temperatures of 45C (113F), while Abu Dhabi is even hotter at 48C (118.4F) – around 7C higher than the average for this time of year. 

Temperatures in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, managed to reach a high of 50C (122F) in the picturesque Al Qaysumah, which is 6C above the seasonal average.

While the midday sun might be a little too much for some travellers, temperatures in coastal areas drop to below 36C (100F) during the afternoon as the cool sea breezes kick in.

US soldiers at the Talil military base in Iraq have been baking in temperatures of 52C (125.6F). The heat, combined with the beginning of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan, led to a public holiday being declared in Baghdad and southern parts of Iraq.

Experts say that the hotter-than-usual temperatures have been caused by a synoptic pattern often seen during the summer. 

High pressure affected eastern Oman up to Iran, with a slack low pressure trough sitting to its east.

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Flights from London Gatwick to Athens will start from next month after Greek carrier Hellenic Imperial Airways announced a new service which will include onward connections to Kuwait and Dubai.

Starting from July 1, there will be three flights a week which offer same-day connections to Kuwait, with three additional flights to start by October which will offer same-day connections to Dubai.

Business and economy class will be on offer on the Airbus A340 aircraft service. All seats will include personal in-flight entertainment, while spacious recliner seats will be available for business-class passengers.

World-leading GSA network APG has been appointed as the airline’s UK representative, providing sales, marketing, ticketing services and call centre facilities in the UK and Ireland. Travel agents in the UK are being offered 5% commission by the airline as an introductory offer.

The new route is part of a plan by Hellenic Imperial Airways to expand its operation and provide increased access for the wider world to Greece. Non-stop flights to New York and Dubai are also expected to be offered as part of the expansion by the airline, which was incorporated in May 2006 by a team of industry experts, and to date has operated charter flights and aircraft leasing on an ACMI basis.

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