Zurich Next A380 Destination From Auckland

News Release. 6 June 2013

Zurich Next A380 Destination From Auckland

New Zealand travellers will now be able to fly by A380 superjumbo all the way from Auckland to Zurich as from the beginning of next year.

Emirates, the largest A380 operator in the world with 34 now in its fleet, will boost its services to Switzerland with the start of a daily A380 service from Dubai to Zurich, with direct connections at Dubai from its three daily A380 services from Auckland.

From January 1, 2014, EK087 from Dubai to Zurich and its return sector EK088 will be operated by an A380. The service is currently operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. Emirates will continue to serve Zurich with a double daily operation.

Travellers can already fly all the way by Emirates A380 from Auckland to London, Manchester, Paris, Munich, Rome, Amsterdam and Moscow.

“The strategic decision to bring our flagship A380 to Zurich was made to support the city’s strong position as a financial services hub and centre for a vast number of international companies. There has been robust demand for business and leisure traffic and the extra capacity will stimulate more trade and tourism between Switzerland, the UAE and emerging markets eastbound - including 10 destinations in India and 24 destinations in the Far East and Australasia - connecting both people and economies,” said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide.

Emirates currently operates two A380s a day out of Auckland but this will move to three a day from October. The airline’s daily Boeing 777-300ER flight from Christchurch will also connect with the Zurich A380 in January.

Each Emirates’ A380 offers an Onboard Lounge on the upper deck for Premium Class passengers. First Class passengers have the added luxury of two Onboard Shower Spas.

Passengers across all cabins can enjoy watching their favourite movies, Tv programmes, and more than 1,400 channels of ice, the award-winning in-flight entertainment system, while enjoying gourmet-chef prepared cuisine. Passengers can also stay connected to the internet throughout their journey with high-speed wi-fi access.

Emirates has a further 56 of the double-deckers on order, and has carried almost 17 million passengers since the aircraft was introduced five years ago. Since January of this year, Emirates’ A380 passengers have been able to experience the world’s first purpose built A380 concourse in Dubai, reflecting further investment in the airline’s global hub, which is set to grow to a capacity of 90 million passengers by 2018.

Caption: Emirates will serve Zurich with its flagship Airbus A380 from 1 January 2014.

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