Emirates has announced that it is ramping up Sydney and Melbourne services as demand to/from these cities continues to soar.
Melbourne and Sydney are getting a capacity boost
Starting 26th March 2023, Emirates will operate an additional daily flight from Dubai to Melbourne. And as of 1st May 2023, the airline will operate an additional daily direct service from Dubai to Sydney. This means that both Melbourne and Sydney will have three daily flights by Emirates.
The Melbourne service will operate via Singapore while Sydney service will be operated nonstop. The service increase follows the airline’s recent announcement around double daily flights to Brisbane, starting from 1st June 2023. Both the additional flights will be operated by Boeing B777-300ER aircraft featuring First, Business and Economy classes.
Adding a third daily service to Sydney and Melbourne will offer over 500,000 additional seats to and from Australia in a year. To have the two cities operating back at pre-pandemic frequencies is a phenomenal milestone in our restoration of Australia capacity and testament to our longstanding commitment to flying down under. For over 25 years we have provided services for Australia since our first flight to Melbourne in 1996. During this time, we have proudly transported over 40 million passengers and continued flying to Australia during the pandemic. We continue to record significant demand for our services, so we’re dedicated to offering Australians and travellers more options to travel, including the likes of our new Premium Economy cabin with Australia being one of the first markets to be offered this class.
said Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates.
As aforementioned, the third daily flight between Dubai and Melbourne will be operated with a stop in Singapore. Flight EK404 will depart Dubai at 2115hrs, arriving in Singapore at 0850hrs. The flight will then continue on to Melbourne taking off at 1025hrs from Singapore, arriving at 2035hrs local time. The return service to Dubai EK405 takes off from Melbourne at 0325hrs, arriving in Singapore at 0815hrs. The flight will then take off for Dubai at 0940hrs, arriving at 1300hrs local time.
We’re thrilled that Emirates is enhancing its commitment to Melbourne. The resumption of the Melbourne to Singapore route means Emirates will operate three daily flights from Melbourne, returning to pre-Covid levels of capacity. It’s great news for customers as it provides extra capacity for the strong demand we’re seeing for travel from Melbourne to Europe and Asia. It’s also great news for Victorian exporters, with the Boeing 777-300 aircraft providing additional freight opportunities into Asia and the Middle East.
said Lorie Argus, CEO, Melbourne Airport.
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With this, Emirates is providing a new connectivity option between Singapore and Melbourne to serve strong demand between both cities, as well as offering passengers its signature, differentiated product and service experience. The airline will go head-to-head with Singapore Airlines on this route, which operates up to 4-daily flights on Singapore-Melbourne route.
Third daily flight between Dubai and Sydney will be operated by Boeing B777-300ER aircraft. Emirates flight EK416 will depart Dubai at 2130hrs, arriving in Sydney at 1720hrs the next day. The return flight EK417, will depart Sydney at 2010hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0430hrs. The airline currently serves Sydney with double daily A380 flights, and both services offer the airline’s new Premium Economy experience for passengers.
We welcome this additional capacity on the Sydney to Dubai route, which will also give passengers access to Emirates’ extensive global network. These extra flights are another important step towards Australia’s international aviation recovery, providing much needed additional capacity to meet the high demand for travel. It is great to see that both visitors and Australians will have more choice available in time for the start of the European summer and the NSW winter school holidays.
said Geoff Culbert, CEO, Sydney Airport.
Christchurch is back on the map
As of 26th March 2023, Emirates will once again operate a daily flight between Sydney and Christchurch. The existing Emirates flight EK412 will be extended up to Christchurch. Emirates flight EK412 departs Dubai at 1015hrs, arriving in Sydney at 0700hrs. The flight will then continue, taking off from Sydney at 0845hrs, arriving in Christchurch at 1350hrs. EK413 will then depart Christchurch at 1820hrs, arriving in Sydney at 1940hrs. The final leg of EK413 will depart to Dubai at 2145hrs, arriving at 0515hrs local time.
Passengers in Christchurch will not only be able to enjoy the airline’s highly sought after Airbus A380 aircraft, but will also have double the opportunity to experience the debut of the new Premium Economy cabin and latest products across every class of travel.
We are also pleased to see the A380 return on the trans-Tasman after a three-year hiatus, adding extra seats to meet the strong appetite for travel between Sydney and New Zealand.
added Geoff.
By mid-year, Emirates will be operating 63-weekly services to Australia with the capacity to transport more than 55,000 passengers per week to and from its major cities. Melbourne and Sydney will be restored to flying at pre-pandemic levels, a significant milestone in the airline’s reinstatement of Australia services. The uplift in capacity supports the revival of tourism by providing travellers with even more access to and from Australia, as well as bolstering trade and business opportunities with the large 22-tonne freight capacity offered by the Boeing B777-300ER.
Meanwhile, Emirates recently added a fourth-daily flight to Bangkok on the back of strong demand.
Featured image by Emirates
What do you think of Emirates’ capacity expansion in Melbourne and Sydney and also the resumption of service to Christchurch? Let me know in the comments section below.
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