Emirates adds flights to Brisbane and Melbourne from Dubai

Emirates Airline has stepped up its presence in Australia with the introduction of a second daily service to Brisbane and a third daily service to Melbourne.

Closely following the launch of Emirates’ A380 service to Sydney on February 1, the two new services to Brisbane and Melbourne will operate non-stop and escalate the airline’s weekly capacity to 63 flights to four Australian gateways.

Operated by A340-500 aircraft in a three-class configuration that includes 12 luxurious First Class Private Suites, 42 seats in Business Class and generous space for 204 passengers in Economy Class, the additional flights will introduce over 3600 seats per week per direction. Officials said that Emirates would provide the much needed capacity on the Melbourne and Brisbane routes and assist in increasing inbound tourist arrivals.

In its last annual study, Melbourne Airport reported close to five million international passengers. The airport authorities hope to boost this figure as Emirates’ expansion will facilitate growth in arrivals from Europe – a key tourism market. Emirates has a large European network spanning 22 cities and has been actively promoting Australia in the continent through multi-channel publicity initiatives. The Dubai-based carrier, together with Tourism Australia, has implemented several promotional campaigns in the United Kingdom – an important inbound market for Australia.

The added capacity is also expected to provide Australians better connections and increased departure options to cities beyond Dubai such as Emirates’ six gateways in the UK as well as Venice, Milan and Nice which are less frequented by other operators.

The flight will depart Dubai daily at 02:30 hrs and arrive in Melbourne at 22:55 hrs. On the return journey, it would depart Melbourne at 02:55 hrs the following day and touches down at Dubai at 10:10 hrs. Meanwhile, Emirates would see its service depart Dubai daily at 10:20 hrs, arriving in Brisbane at 06:35 hrs the following day. The return flight will take off from Brisbane at 20:30 hrs and touch down in Dubai at 05:30 hrs the following day.

According to the airline, Emirates’ commitment to Melbourne and Brisbane spans a range of sponsorships, notably The Melbourne Cup, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Collingwood Football Club and the PGA in Coolum, Queensland. The airline’s market commitment is  also reflected in facilities that include the recently-launched Emirates Lounge at Brisbane Airport . The airline also offers passengers access to Emirates Lounges in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.`