Emirates has announced the second daily flight on its Dubai-Melbourne route, served by its flagship A380 aircraft.

 

Starting May 1, the airline will offer customers 14 weekly services from Dubai to Melbourne.  The expansion of services is supported by Australia's Victorian Government to help fast-track the return of international flights to Melbourne and bring more visitors to the state, the airline said.

 

The additional daily frequency between Dubai and Melbourne will grow Emirates’ seats to over 1,000 a day totalling 700,000 a year between the airline’s global Dubai hub and Victoria, with 516 seats on each flight. Travellers can choose from 14 First Class suites, 76 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 426 ergonomically designed seats in Economy Class. 

 

Before the pandemic, international flights brought more than 3.1 million visitors to Victoria each year and injected $8.8 billion into the economy. Emirates carried 22 per cent of the 1.3 million passengers that arrived in Victoria from key European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, which added $86 million to the Victorian economy in 2019, it said.

 

Airline serving Australia market for overs 25 years

Barry Brown, Emirates Divisional Vice President for Australasia said: "As an international airline that has been serving Australia for over 25 years, we are especially delighted to boost our services to Melbourne, adding yet more seats and flight options to the Victorian capital. Our second daily A380 service reaffirms our ongoing commitment to Australia and our loyal passengers as demand for international travel continues to increase. The newly expanded flight schedule also means our customers can experience three continents in one day, enjoying their breakfast in Australia, lunch in Dubai, and dinner in Europe.  

 

"Emirates’ inaugural flight to Australia arrived in Melbourne in 1996. Since then, we have carried more than 11 million passengers on this key route and we are delighted that Victorian travellers and businesses can continue to enjoy the global reach that our expansive network offers." 

 

Emirates’ increasing operations

With Australia being the third-largest destination for Emirates’ A380 operations, the airline has been continuously committed to increasing flights to Australia which will soar to 42 weekly flights in May, with the airline’s flagship flying to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. 

 

From then Victoria and News South Wales capitals will be served by twice daily flights and the Queensland capital once daily, operating on the iconic A380 aircraft. Emirates also provides passenger services to Perth with the airline’s other wide-body aircraft in its fleet, the Boeing 777-300ER, which will operate daily from May 1.- TradeArabia News Service