Emirates’ expansion reaches new heights today with the launch of flights to Clark in the Philippines, the inauguration of a route between Milan and New York, and a brand new A380 service to Brisbane – all on the same day in four different continents.

First to take off from Dubai International at 0440hrs this morning was EK 338, a Boeing 777-200LR, bound for Clark International in the Philippines.

This was followed by EK 205, pushing back at 0905hrs for Milan, where the Boeing 777-300ER stops before embarking on a brand new transatlantic connection to New York. Click here to see the video of a JFK landing from a pilot’s perspective.

Next in line was EK 434, departing Dubai at 1025hrs for the airline’s latest A380 destination, Brisbane.

Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said: “Today is an extremely significant day for our network – we are connecting two great cities across the Atlantic, opening an important new gateway into the Philippines, which helps link Filipino communities across the world, and our magnificent flagship aircraft will quietly descend into yet another destination.” “These multiple activities embody the scale of our growth, the increasing reach of our network and the role we play in connecting people, minds and cultures as Emirates navigates a path to becoming a top global lifestyle brand,” said Mr Clark.

Clark will be Emirates’ second gateway into the Philippines after Manila. The airport is located 80 kilometres north of the capital, in Angeles City. With a catchment area of 17 million people, the region is poised to become a new tourism and commercial hub. The flight will also help connect the sizeable Filipino communities around the world.

Emirates already serves New York and Milan. The new service addresses an underserved transatlantic link between the two commercially vibrant cities, both in terms of non-stop flights and a premium product offering. Through agreements with JetBlue in the U.S and with Easyjet in Europe, customers can easily connect onto flights serving the U.S via New York and Europe via Milan. With the Milan-New York connection, Emirates becomes triple daily into New York, home to the largest Italian community in America.

Brisbane becomes Emirates’ 22nd A380 destination. Emirates will be the only airline flying a scheduled double-decker into Brisbane, a fitting development to mark the 10th anniversary of services to the state of Queensland. When the A380 leaves Brisbane and continues to Auckland, an Emirates’ A380 “hotspot” will be created. Auckland will become the only place on the Emirates’ network, outside of Dubai, where three of the airline’s A380s can be seen on the ground at the same time; EK 434 from Brisbane, EK 412 from Sydney and EK 406 from Melbourne.

After launching Warsaw, Algiers, Tokyo Haneda and Stockholm so far in 2013, the airline is preparing for the start of services to Conakry in Guinea, Sialkot in Pakistan, Kabul, Kiev, Taipei and Boston in the coming months.