Emirates has chosen Brisbane as its third A380 destination in Australia. The new service is set to commence in October this year, and the route will connect Dubai with the Australian city, with an onward leg to Auckland in New Zealand. This daily Brisbane flight is one of the two operated by the Gulf airline, with the other stopping over in Singapore. Both services are currently operated by B777-300ERs, but when EK435 changes to an A380, it will result in a capacity increase of 135 seats per flight.
Brisbane Airport Corporation's (BAC) chief executive and managing director Julieanne Alroe said: “BAC has worked closely with Emirates to bring a regular A380 service to Brisbane to meet both the demand and expectations of Queensland travellers and we are beyond delighted Emirates is the first international airline to make this commitment."
“Australia represents an important market for Emirates and ranks in the top three countries on Emirates’ global network. Central to this relationship is the ongoing support for tourism and trade provided by adding larger capacity aircraft between our two countries, and this fourth A380 for Australia will further complement our partnership with Qantas,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice-president commercial operations, Far East and Australasia.
For more on the partnership between Emirates and Qantas, click here.
Emirates has also recently introduced a daily A380 service to Melbourne and announced a second one to Sydney (see story). It also flies daily to Adelaide and three times a day to Perth.
“This is also a significant announcement for New Zealand where we are continuing our growth, from October 2, Auckland will be welcoming its third daily Emirates A380. Emirates currently operates its A380s from Auckland to Melbourne and Sydney and on to Dubai and Emirates’ ever expanding global network.” added Obaidalla.
The Emirates A380 is set in a three-class configuration, with 399 seats in economy on the lower deck, and 76 fully mini-pods with fully-flat beds in business class and 14 first class suites on the upper deck. For a review of the business class product, click here.
The airline operates 33 of the superjumbos, with a further 57 on order.
Visit www.emirates.com
Reggie Ho
