Emirates’ NZ Christmas Present – Second Daily A380 Service

Emirates’ NZ Christmas Present – Second Daily A380 Service

Double-daily double-deckers from next year reinforces commitment

Emirates, which offers four daily services from New Zealand to Dubai and beyond via Australia, will double its A380 superjumbo flights to Auckland from October next year.

The Dubai-based international airline said today it will operate the double-decker A380 on its daily Auckland-Melbourne-Dubai service in October 2012, replacing the current Boeing 777-300ER flight. Emirates has since February 2009 operated the A380 on the daily Auckland-Sydney-Dubai route.

The announcement comes as Emirates takes delivery of its 20th Airbus A380. It is the largest operator of A380s in the world and has another 70 on order.

“This is a great Christmas present for us and New Zealand. Having a second daily A380 service in and out of New Zealand reinforces our commitment to the country,” said Emirates’ regional manager New Zealand Chris Lethbridge today.

“The A380 has been an extremely popular aircraft, offering new comfort levels across the Tasman and beyond, and we are delighted to be able to offer even more seats on a daily basis on this type during 2012. Importantly, this adds to the capacity available for inbound tourism and with such a wide network to draw upon – 116 destinations in 68 countries, and Dublin being added from January 9 – we are confident we can help grow the numbers.”

Mr Lethbridge said that the environmentally-efficient aircraft had been one of the reasons Emirates had been able to grow the total market in and out of New Zealand.

“One of the great pluses we have here is that Emirates operates the only A380 service all the way from Auckland to London, Manchester, Paris, Munich and Rome. The other important element is that we offer the same first class private suites, business class seats that convert to lie-flat beds, and excellent economy class on all four services out of New Zealand – and the A380 offers even more with individual seating pods in business class, shower spas in first class and an onboard lounge for all passengers in premium classes.”

Mr Lethbridge said that Melbourne was an attractive destination for many New Zealanders and he believed the expansion in capacity and new aircraft would be a popular move.

“The A380 has been very popular for people flying just to Sydney. I think we will see the same success with the type for those people going to Melbourne and beyond.”

The Emirates A380s flying to and from New Zealand offer 489 seats - 14 in first class private suites, 76 in business class and 399 in economy class. With the second A380 service in place, Emirates will offer a total of 1,686 seats a day in each direction, up from 1,234 just 2½ years ago.

In addition to the services through Sydney and Melbourne to Dubai and beyond, Emirates also flies daily from Auckland to Dubai via Brisbane, and from Christchurch to Dubai via Sydney and Bangkok.

All flights offer full service, with gourmet meals, fine wines and 1200 channels of information, communication and entertainment. Most of the A380 fleet now also offers wi-fi connectivity for laptops and mobile phones.

Business and first class passengers in Auckland enjoy the comfort of a new 220-seat Emirates Lounge opened this year, as well as a complimentary chauffeur-drive pick-up and drop-off service.

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