DUBAI, 7 August 2023: Emirates celebrated 20 years of flying to New Zealand last week, marking the introduction of flights from Dubai with transit stops in either Sydney or Melbourne.
On 2 August 2003, Emirates launched its first service from New Zealand, marked by two inaugural flights – the first via Sydney on a Boeing 777-300ER and the second on an A330 from Melbourne.
Over the past two decades, Emirates has flown over 16 million passengers between Dubai and New Zealand across 49,000 flights to Auckland and Christchurch. Emirates offers 14 weekly flights to New Zealand from Dubai, with direct daily services to Auckland. It also flies to Christchurch via Sydney, offering passengers the only opportunity to travel across the Trans-Tasman on an A380.
Emirates’ Dubai to Auckland service remains the longest route on the airline’s network, taking passengers on a 14,000km journey to their destination. Christchurch remains the smallest city on the network to be serviced by the flagship A380.
In March 2023, New Zealand became the first country to exclusively operate Emirates’ new four-class A380 on all its services. The aircraft is equipped with 56 Premium Economy seats, with the new cabin class introduced by Emirates as part of the airline’s multi-billion dollar aircraft retrofit programme – the first project of its kind in scale and size and one of the largest investments ever made in the industry.
The airline’s cargo arm, Emirates SkyCargo, has been a critical contributor to the local economy, exporting meat, fruits, seafood and medical equipment out of New Zealand. As many other international airlines suspended services to New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic, Emirates continued its services with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft flying from Auckland to Dubai via Kuala Lumpur. During the pandemic, Emirates carried almost 17,700 tonnes of vaccines and essential medical equipment into New Zealand.
Emirates divisional vice president for Australasia Barry Brown said the milestone highlights the airline’s ongoing commitment to the New Zealand market.
“During the last 20 years, New Zealand has continued to be an important market for Emirates, and this is clear today as the country sits firmly at the forefront of our latest onboard product. By offering Premium Economy seats on all our A380 services to New Zealand, we can offer travellers our best product yet, providing greater choice and flexibility.
The Emirates A380 experience remains highly sought after by travellers, with customers travelling to New Zealand able to enjoy its spacious and comfortable cabins and award-winning inflight entertainment system that includes more than 6,500 channels of on-demand entertainment.
Tickets can be booked on emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents.
