Emirates marks new Sydney service

Tourism Australia and Emirates marked the successful start of the airline’s daily A380 service between Dubai and Sydney at the 2009 Arabian Travel Market (ATM), running until 8th May.

Richard Vaughan, the airline’s Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide presented Tourism Australia’s GCC Development Manager, Andrew Oldfield with a super-sized A380 model to celebrate the occasion.

Emirates introduced its revolutionary A380 product on the Dubai-Sydney-Auckland route on 1st February with a thrice-weekly service, and subsequently strengthened it on 1st May with a daily operation. The capacity expansion - 18 % - demonstrates yet another initiative in Emirates’ partnership with Australia.

Mr. Vaughan noted: “Emirates made a commitment to increase services to Australia some years ago and has delivered on its promise, even in the present economic times when others choose to reduce capacity. We are delighted to be able to proceed with this scheduled increase by making the state-of-the-art A380 service a daily operation.”

Mr. Oldfield added: “The recent easing of visa procedures in the region has contributed to an increase of 21% in visitor arrivals from the six-member GCC states. Emirates’ increased capacity will encourage further growth as well as support Tourism Australia as we step up our marketing initiatives in this part of the world.”

Emirates’ big plans for the A380 this year also include start of services to Bangkok and Toronto on 1st June, and to Seoul on 1st December. Emirates will be the aviation world’s first A380 operator to Bangkok and will usher in a whole new, luxury air travel experience to/from the Kingdom.

Emirates’ A380 heralds a whole new level of comfort and luxury never seen before on a commercial airliner. The ground-breaking in-flight product includes onboard shower spas with signature spa products in the First Class cabin; an onboard lounge for First and Business class customers; flat-bed massage-equipped private suites in First Class; a new generation of intelligent seating and flat-beds in Business Class; mood-lighting; and a second-to-none in-flight entertainment system featuring over 1000 channels of on-demand entertainment.