Emirates fights back

Emirates says its Airbus A380 can carry as many passengers as three A320s. Photo / Richard Robinson

Emirates has hit back at veiled criticism by Air New Zealand of the environmental impact of its flights across the Tasman.

Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe referred to a "competitor" flying the equivalent of seven empty A320s across the Tasman every day for four months this year.

"For this competitor, the Tasman sectors are an easy add-on to their long haul flying and an opportunity to earn revenue at only marginal cost and load factors down around 50 per cent seem to be of no consequence," Fyfe told a Green Skies meeting in Hong Kong.

Emirates flies between Dubai and Australia and then across the Tasman to Auckland and Christchurch daily. On its Auckland-Sydney service it flies the A380 super jumbo, capable of holding 489 passengers.

In a sign of growing friction, and without naming Emirates, Fyfe said last week its competitor was guilty of "environmental extremism".

Air New Zealand yesterday said it had nothing to add.

But Emirates New Zealand manager Chris Lethbridge defended its performance, saying throughout the year transtasman flights were 80 per cent full, flying on average 1000 passengers a day.

"While the A320 operated by other carriers is a good aircraft, our A380 on the Tasman means fewer takeoffs and landings, the phases that produce high fuel burn and noise."

An A380 could carry as many passengers as three A320s that in total would be burning more fuel on take-off. Lethbridge said the A380 used up to 30 per cent less fuel per passenger. This figure would be achieved only if the aircraft was full.

The airline started flying here in 2003 and he said it had introduced important competition to the market.

It was the first, and remains the only, airline from the Middle East serving New Zealand directly.

The Dubai Government-owned airline has been the subject of speculation over whether it receives handouts. It says it gets no discounted fuel and no subsidies.

"We operate on a wholly commercial basis and match our flights with demand," Lethbridge said.

That was an overriding factor behind ending the Melbourne-Christchurch service and replacing it with a Sydney-Christchurch service.

Head of research at Forsyth Barr Rob Mercer said the spat was a sign of frustration, an indication of how tough the competition was on the Tasman.

Air New Zealand has said over the past year it lost tens of millions of dollars on the route, which accounts for between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of revenue. "The Tasman is a bit of a capacity dump for the long-haul carriers. It tends to be targeted around the leisure travellers because the timeslots tend to be around the middle of the day," Mercer said.

Emirates also flies 361-seat Boeing 777s to New Zealand and having such large aircraft from a big airline put significant pressure on the route.

"Emirates is a different beast to most airlines. It makes transtasman a little more challenging for Air New Zealand."