Dubai-based Emirates airline has announced it will ramp up its operations in Australia. The carrier will upgrade its second daily flight, EK430/431 between Dubai and Brisbane, to an A380 starting from October 1. There will also be a second daily service between Dubai and Perth operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, starting from December 1.
From October 1, the second A380 flight EK430 will depart Dubai at 2.30am and arrive in Brisbane at 10.20pm. The return flight EK431 will depart Brisbane at 1.55am and arrive in Dubai at 10.05am. (All times are local.)
The additional flight to Perth will be operated by an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER. Starting from December 1, Emirates flight EK424 will depart from Dubai at 9.15am and arrive in Perth at 12.05am the following day. The return flight EK425 will depart from Perth at 6am and arrive in Dubai at 1.10pm.
Gert-Jan de Graaff, Brisbane Airport Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The A380 will allow up to 100,000 extra passengers per year to travel between Queensland and Europe, which is Brisbane’s second busiest international destination. “
Through these ramped-up services, the airline will increase weekly capacity to Australia by an additional 6,900 seats.
Emirates’ second daily flight between Dubai and Perth will further provide additional connectivity to the airline’s gateways across the world.
Emirates currently serves Australia with 63 weekly flights to Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, operated by a mix of A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft transporting 56,000 passengers per week to and from these major cities. The airline has recently announced doubling its Premium Economy offering on flights to Melbourne starting from February 1, adding to the two daily four-class A380 services to Sydney.