Emirates has announced it is doubling its flight services to Brisbane from June.
The Dubai airline is adding a daily service to the Australian city, as it celebrates 20 years since the route was inaugurated.
As of June 1, Emirates will operate the second daily flight to and from Brisbane, bringing the route back to pre-pandemic operating levels, with more than 250,000 seats per year both ways.
A Boeing 777-300ER will take off from Dubai at 2.30am and arrive at 10.20pm local time. The return flight departs Australia at 2.50am and arrives in Dubai at 11am local time.
The airline currently services Brisbane with one daily flight on an A380, while also offering flights to Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. This will bring it up to 49 weekly flights between the UAE city and Australia.
"Our second daily service to Brisbane begins as we proudly celebrate 20 years of flying to the sunshine state," said Barry Brown, divisional vice president Australasia at Emirates. "Not only will this service cater to the demand of Australians looking to travel overseas, but also welcome more travellers and tourists from Dubai and across our global network to enjoy Queensland, Australia’s tourism mecca."
Once the second daily flight starts, Emirates will be back to operating at pre-pandemic levels.
The additional service means Emirates will be back to operating at pre-pandemic levels to Brisbane. The expansion will boost capacity through Brisbane by more than a quarter of a million seats per year both ways.
Gert-Jan de Graaff, chief executive of Brisbane Airport Corporation, added: "These new flights will also help put downward pressure on airfares which have been elevated due to high demand and low supply."
The expansion comes as part of a $200 million bid to boost Queensland's tourism economy. "The extra service is estimated to provide an additional 730 direct and indirect jobs for the state," said Steven Miles, the acting premier of Queensland. "Emirates’ extensive worldwide network to over 130 destinations will ensure a high level of connectivity with the United Kingdom, Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and North America."
Resumption of flights to Glasgow, Birmingham and Nice
The new Brisbane services comes alongside a general push from Emirates to reach pre-pandemic operating levels.
On Friday, the airline announced it will be resuming A380 flights to several destinations for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will operate the world's largest passenger jet to Glasgow from March 26 and to Birmingham from July 1.
Emirates will also operate the double-decker to Nice in the South of France starting June 1.
It's the first time the superjumbo has operated to each of the European destinations since March 2020, when Emirates grounded its fleet during the global pandemic.
As travel demand continues to rise, Emirates is also expanding its services to London.
From May 1, the airline will resume a second daily service to London Stansted. Operated via a wide-body Boeing 777-300, the aircraft will offer Emirates' renowned First Class product.
As the world's largest operator of the A380 superjumbo, Emirates currently operates 80 double-decker jets to 40 airports around the world.
By the end of summer, it will be flying the double-decker jet to 50 destinations — a figure that puts Emirates at a recovery rate of almost 90 per cent of its pre-pandemic A380 network.
