Global carrier Emirates Airline on Thursday unveiled plans to increase the number of flights across its network by 14% in 2009. This year, the Dubai-based carrier will add 18 new passenger aircraft to its fleet, increasing seating capacity by 14% and enabling it to start new routes as well as increase frequencies on existing routes. It will also expand cargo capacity by 17%.

Emirates currently has a fleet of 129 wide-bodied aircraft. By the end of the 2008-09 financial year (ending March 31, 2009), that figure will stand at 132, including four superjumbo Airbus A380s.

The carrier will welcome a further seven A380s in fiscal year 2009-10 (ending March 31, 2010), as well as 10 Boeing 777-300ER, one 777-200LR and one Boeing 777 freighter, said a statement here.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline said: ?We at Emirates see the next year is not going to be an easy ride for the airline industry. Emirates has prepared the best to meet the challenges, but it also see it as a time of opportunity. The year 2009, with a significant capacity increase, will be a year of consolidation for us, with fewer new routes launched than in previous years.?

?We will concentrate on strengthening our presence on routes where there is a greater demand from our customers. All of our new capacity will be deployed in markets where we see growth potential, particularly Africa and the Middle East,? he added.

Indeed, Emirates? fastest growing markets are Africa and the Middle East, recording 17% and 6% growth respectively in the last 12 months. To this end, Emirates recently added a second daily flight to Lagos.

It will also introduce services from Dubai to Durban, South Africa on October 1, 2009. The route will be served by a two-class, 278-seat Airbus A330-200 which can carry up to 14 tonnes of cargo into the port city.

Last month, Emirates announced its Middle East expansion plan taking the number of seats in the region to 50,000 on 180 flights a week. Additional services to Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Damascus were started recently.