Emirates Airlines will be adding two more passenger services soon to expand its network to nearly 80 cities worldwide by the first week of September.

The Dubai-based carrier said on Wednesday that it will resume flights to Conakry, Guinea and Dakar Senegal from September 3, taking the total number of cities served by the airline in Africa to eight. Services for the two cities will be linked and operate twice a week, utilising a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The new flights will boost Emirates network to 77 cities, providing flyers enhanced connectivity, particularly those travelling to and from destinations in the Middle East, West Asia, Europe, Americas and the Far East.

The airline suspended its passenger services in March following a global lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. It was only in recent months when Emirates restarted international flights, as travel restrictions have eased.

Emirates has recently introduced a new travel insurance scheme that promises flyers to get free medical coverage for coronavirus treatment in the event that they get diagnosed with COVID-19 during their trip.

The cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until October 31, 2020, with the first flight to be completed on or before October 31, 2020. It is valid for 31 days from the moment passengers fly the first sector of their journey.

Airlines are estimated to lose billions of US dollars this year due to the pandemic.  In July, it was reported that Emirates would lay off 9,000 more employees.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com

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