Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, has expanded its internet check-in facility to seven major cities in Africa, making the convenient facility available to customers in 55 cities served by the airline across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia.
United Arab Emirates: Thursday, January 26 - 2006 at 12:45 GMT+4

Passengers travelling from Accra, Alexandria, Cairo, Entebbe, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi can now select and secure their preferred seats, and check-in for their Emirates flight from the convenience of their homes, hotels or offices by logging on to www.emirates.com.

This internet check-in facility has proved popular with Emirates' customers since it was launched in October last year. Initially introduced to travellers in four cities, the success of the service has prompted its rapid expansion across Emirates' network. The airline intends to eventually offer internet check-in to all cities it serves, where technologically possible.

Available between 12 and two hours prior to flight departure, Emirates' internet check-in service allows passengers to select their seat from those available at the time. Once the check-in process has been completed, passengers will be provided an online check-in receipt. They can then proceed to a dedicated Emirates counter at the airport to exchange the receipt for a boarding pass.

Passengers with check-in luggage need to arrive 90 minutes prior to departure and those carrying only hand luggage need to arrive 60 minutes prior to departure. The online service also allows for passengers to check-in for groups of up to nine persons travelling together, as well as connecting flights on Emirates (within a window of 24 hours), further shortening waiting times.

From its Dubai hub, Emirates currently flies to over 75 destinations in 55 countries. The fast-growing airline has also announced plans to introduce seven new destinations in 2006 - Abidjan (Cote D'Ivoire), Thiruvananthapuram (India), Hamburg (Germany), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Kolkata (India), Nagoya (Japan) and Beijing (China).