With only a few  weeks to go until Taipei joins Emirates’ global passenger network, the airline celebrated the countdown to launch by showcasing its famed hospitality and on board products at a VIP reception in Taiwan’s capital city.

Emirates will begin a daily, non-stop service between Taipei and Dubai from 10^th February 2014, establishing the first non-stop connection between Taipei and the Middle East. One of the world’s most dynamic airlines, Emirates has been expanding its global route network to provide customers with even more travel options.

“The partnership between Emirates and Taipei goes back to 2003 when our cargo arm, Emirates Skycargo, launched a dedicated freighter service between the two cities. Given Taipei’s status as an international trading hub and the demand that we have been getting, it is a natural progression for the airline to launch passenger services here,” said Edwin Lau, Emirates’ Vice President, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Emirates will fly a Boeing 777-300ER on the Taipei route, equipped with eight luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business Class, and generous space for 304 passengers in Economy Class. Passengers can also look forward to gourmet cuisine in all classes, served by Emirates’ multinational cabin crew.

The aircraft also features ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system which has over 1,600 channels showing the latest blockbusters, subtitled Hollywood films, music, TV and games.

Emirates now operates services to 138 destinations in 78 countries from Dubai. Earlier this year Emirates launched services to Warsaw and Algiers, Haneda, Japan, Clark in the Philippines, the transatlantic Milan-New York route, Conakry, Sialkot in Pakistan and Kabul in Afghanistan.

Emirates will begin 2014 with the launch of services to Kiev, followed by Taipei and Boston on 10^th March.

Emirates operates daily scheduled flights from Malta to Dubai, of which four weekly flights fly via Larnaka, Cyprus, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. While on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, Emirates operates direct flights from Dubai to Malta and return flights fly via Tripoli.