Emirates to Offer All-A380 Service In Auckland

Emirates to Offer All-A380 Service In Auckland

Auckland will from October become the first airport outside Emirates’ Dubai hub to have three scheduled Airbus A380 aircraft on the ground at one time when the airline introduces the double-decker aircraft on its daily Dubai route via Brisbane.

Emirates is the only airline operating the state-of-the-art A380 into Auckland on regular scheduled services – and from October 2 all three of its daily flights will be A380s.

The change on the Brisbane route from the current Boeing 777-300ER operation to an A380 flight will add a further 135 seats in each direction each day on this service.

The move follows the same upscaling on the Auckland-Melbourne-Dubai route last October, and the introduction of an A380 on the Auckland-Sydney-Dubai route in 2009.

Outside of Dubai, which has the world’s first, purpose built A380 concourse, no other airport on the network will have as many Emirates A380s at one time as Auckland. The Emirates A380s can carry 489 passengers – on the upper deck, 14 in first class suites and 76 in business class; and on the lower deck, 399 in economy class.

“The Auckland-Brisbane-Dubai route is a popular choice among business and leisure travellers alike – load factors are currently sitting at around 98 per cent – and the new Emirates A380 service will be instrumental in helping Emirates meet this growing passenger demand as well as deliver considerable economic benefits through inbound seats and travel connections,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Far East and Australasia.

“New Zealand and Australia are important markets for Emirates and central to this is our support for tourism and trade by adding larger capacity. This commitment has now been further strengthened with the final approvals for our partnership with Qantas.”

Emirates, which started flying to New Zealand nearly 10 years ago, has significantly grown its capacity into and out of New Zealand in recent years. From this October, it will have 1821 seats a day in each direction, compared with 1234 at the beginning of 2009.

In addition to the three daily Auckland flights, Emirates also operates a daily Boeing 777-300ER service through Christchurch.

From Auckland, Emirates offers A380 service all the way through to cities such as London, Manchester, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and Moscow.

Emirates is the largest A380 operator in the world with 33 in its fleet and 57 on order. Emirates A380s have carried 14 million passengers on 35,000 trips spanning 200 million kilometres since A380 operations commenced five years ago.

Passengers in the First Class cabin can freshen up in one of two on-board Shower Spas and join with travellers in the On-Board Lounge where they can enjoy complimentary beverages and canapés.

For flight information and bookings for Emirates’ new daily Auckland-Brisbane-Dubai A380 service, contact a travel agent or visit www.emirates.com/nz 

ENDS

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