Emirates is to begin daily flights to Cyprus from December 1st, representing a further ramping up of the airline's services in Europe.

Emirates has flown to Cyprus since 1994 and currently offers a five-times a week service from Dubai. As of December, EK 107 will depart Dubai on a daily basis at 0815, arriving in Larnaca at 1025, making the Mediterranean island even more attractive to passengers from the UAE and beyond.

EK 108 will depart Larnaca each day at 1930, landing in Dubai just 3 hours 10 minutes later, smoothing connections for popular onward routes across Asia and Australasia.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe, said: "We are very pleased to be able to announce that we are stepping up our operations to Cyprus. After 14 years of services, we are extending our commitment to the island and significantly improving connections to and from Dubai and beyond, opening up more possibilities for travellers, trade and Emirates SkyCargo freight throughout the broadening Emirates' network."

The changes in Cyprus will be an extension of the current arrangement whereby the Emirates flight continues on to Malta. Flights out of Malta then stop off in Larnaca on the way to Dubai. A combination of Boeing 777 aircraft will continue to serve the route, the latest of which carry the revolutionary in-flight entertainment system, ice.

For such a small island, Cyprus has no shortage of selling points as a destination. There are forested mountains, deep gorges and flat fertile plains full of citrus groves and vineyards. Then, there's the intriguing archaeological sites, quiet villages, monasteries, quaint restaurant-lined harbours and resorts basking in an average of 300 days of sunshine each year.

The Emirates Holidays destination of Cyprus is the third largest Mediterranean island and attracts over 2.4 million tourists per year. According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, is said to have emerged from the waters of this tiny country, leaving a romantic legacy which continues to draw holidaying couples.

Throughout 2008, Emirates is making a series of enhancements to its services across Europe. Dubai-Malta becomes a seven-days a week service in December, the same time that Nice upgrades to non-stop, five times a week. Milan and Rome went daily, non-stop from July 1st this year, while London Heathrow is set to be the first European Airport to be served by an Emirates A380, effective December 1st.
The multi-award winning carrier is the world's largest A380 customer and operates services to 101 cities in 61 countries across six continents. New routes for this year include Cape Town (launched March 30th), Kozhikode in India and Guangzhou in China (launched July 1st), while Los Angeles kicks off October 25th, followed by San Francisco on December 15th.