Emirates has ramped its capacity on two Australian routes, Sydney and Melbourne. The airline will increase its Melbourne capacity from two to three daily services between Dubai via Singapore from March 2023. The airline will also begin a third direct service to Sydney from May 2023. The service increase follows the airline’s recent announcement around double daily flights to Brisbane, starting June 2023.
Besides the airline will also restart services to Christchurch, New Zealand via Sydney, offering a new path for Australians across the trans-Tasman route. The airline plans to operate its 777-300ER on the added services.
With the newly restored third Dubai-Melbourne route, the airline will provide new connectivity option between Singapore and Melbourne to serve strong demand between both cities.
Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer Emirates Airline, said: “Adding a third daily service to Sydney and Melbourne will offer over 500,000 additional seats to and from Australia in a year. To have the two cities operating back at pre-pandemic frequencies is a phenomenal milestone in our restoration of Australia capacity and testament to our longstanding commitment to flying down under.”
Melbourne Airport CEO, Lorie Argus, said: “We’re thrilled that Emirates is enhancing its commitment to Melbourne. The resumption of the Melbourne to Singapore route means Emirates will operate three daily flights from Melbourne, returning to pre-Covid levels of capacity.”
Sydney Airport CEO, Geoff Culbert, said: “We welcome this additional capacity on the Sydney to Dubai route, which will also give passengers access to Emirates’ extensive global network. These extra flights are another important step towards Australia’s international aviation recovery, providing much needed additional capacity to meet the high demand for travel.”
By mid-2023, Emirates plans to operate 63 weekly services to Australia with the capacity to transport more than 55,000 passengers per week to and from its major cities. Melbourne and Sydney will be restored to flying at pre-pandemic levels, a significant milestone in the airline’s reinstatement of Australia services.