Dubai based Emirates has just taken a massive step in the resumption of its Australian operational capacity to those seen similar to pre pandemic levels with the announcement of a third daily service to Dubai both from Melbourne and Sydney and reestablishing its Australian fifth freedom services to both Singapore and Christchurch in the process.
From 26th March 2023 Melbourne services will increase from the current two to thrice daily with the new service to be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER as opposed to the Airbus A380 and will operate via Singapore. This may come as welcome news for Asia bound travelers who will welcome more competition on the Melbourne to Singapore route.
The new outbound service will operate as EK404 departing Dubai at 2115pm before arriving into Singapore at 0850am the next morning taking off again out of Singapore Changi at 1025am ahead of a 2035pm arrival into Melbourne. The inbound service EK405 will then take off from Melbourne at the overnight hour of 0325am before arriving into Singapore at 0815am. After a short pitstop in Singapore the flight will take off again at 0940am before arriving into Dubai at 1300pm local time handy for those same day arrivals to European destinations.
On the Sydney front the third daily service will operate non stop also being served by Emirates Boeing 777-300ER planes with the outbound flight EK416 departing Dubai at 2130PM before arriving into Sydney at 1720PM the following evening. The inbound flight EK417 will be wheels up out of Sydney at 2010pm before arriving into Dubai at 0430am the next morning.
In a further bonus for Aussie travelers looking for extra competition on Trans Tasman routes and the opportunity to try flying Emirates at a fraction of the usual cost the airline has also announced the resumption of its popular A380 services between Sydney and Christchurch. The additional service will be offered as a continuation of the current EK412 and EK413 which will continue departing Dubai at 1015am before arriving into Sydney at 0700am the next morning. The service will then depart Sydney at the very convenient time of 0845am for a leisurely flight across the Tasman ahead of arriving into Christchurch at 1350pm. The inbound flight will then leave Christchurch 1820pm before arriving into Sydney at 1940pm before departing again for Dubai at 2145pm ahead of at 0515am arrival back into Dubai the following day.
Once the new flights come on board it will then mean that the UAE based airline is operating 63 weekly services to Australia with the capacity to transport 55,000 passengers a week in and out of Australia. Even more importantly it will signal the resumption of traffic to pre- pandemic levels on the Melbourne and Sydney routes for Emirates, quite an achievement for an airline which has continued providing vital passenger, trade and commercial links with Australia throughout the entirety of the pandemic even when Australia’s borders were all but shut to general travel with strict quarantine requirements and passenger caps.
Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer Emirates Airline, said: “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 travelers 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.”
Melbourne Airport CEO, Lorie Argus, says “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.”
Sydney Airport CEO, Geoff Culbert, says “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.
“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.”
