Chris Lethbridge Emirates NZ regional manager talks to the herald about bringing back the A380. Video / NZ Herald
Emirates is bringing its superjumbo A380 back to Auckland from Dubai today, restoring one of the world’s longest non-stop flights.
Although a Lufthansa A380 operated one-off repatriation flights in April 2020, it will be the arrival of scheduled double decker services and marks an important milestone in the restoration ofair services to this country. Emirates flew its last signature A380 here two years, eight months and seven days ago.
The return of non-stop services between Dubai and Auckland will also reclaim its title as the longest route on the Emirates network, clocking in 14,193km, in addition to being one of the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flights.
It is, however, just a few kilometres behind Air New Zealand’s Auckland-New York flight, listed at 14,215km (but both actual flight distances can vary on the day, depending on the assigned route).
The longest flight in the world remains the ultra marathon Singapore-New York flight of 15,345km operated by Singapore Airlines.
Emirates New Zealand regional manager Chris Lethbridge has said the return of the big plane sends a signal that travel is getting back to normal.
“Our goal is to normalise travel again and it sends a really strong message to the market.”
Emirates’ direct flight EK448 from Dubai to Auckland will depart at 10.05am (local time) and arrives at 11.05am the next day. The return flight will depart Auckland at 9.15pm and arrives in Dubai at 5.25am the next day.
The airline will next year celebrate 20 years of flying to this country. It has operated A380s in this market since 2009. Since introducing the A380 in 2008, throughout its network Emirates has flown more than 105 million passengers more than one billion kilometres on them.
In addition to the non-stop flights between Dubai and Auckland from this week, next March flights between Dubai and Christchurch, via Sydney, resume.
From mid-January next year, A380s on the Auckland route will be fitted with the airline’s new premium economy cabin, now being retrofitted throughout much of the fleet as part of US$2 billion ($3.43b) project. When the airline announced the return of the A380, Lethbridge said throughout the course of the pandemic, Emirates remained steadfast in its commitment to New Zealand.
Emirates is introducing Premium Economy on Airbus A380 aircraft. Photo / Supplied
“Strengthening our airlift and enhancing access is critical to supporting the recovery of the country’s travel and tourism industries. Our customers have been very eager to see the A380s back in the sky.”
Scott Tasker, general manager customer and aeronautical commercial at Auckland Airport, said the direct connection between Auckland and Dubai had been a popular option for travellers in the past.
“They’ll also be excited to see this service return.”
Emirates was by far the biggest customer for Airbus’ A380s – no longer in production – and had 120 planes in its fleet, of which about 80 are back flying. Emirates wants the entire fleet back in the air by the middle of next year.
The Dubai-based airline ordered half of the A380s built, which it operates with between 484 seats (on planes with Premium Economy) and 517 seats.
While the plane suited its operations to fly large volumes of passengers on single planes through its Dubai mega hub and the world’s other big airports, the A380 didn’t get enough orders from other airlines to make the programme viable.
The extra focus on the greater fuel efficiency of twin-engine planes rather than four on jumbo jets during the pandemic was also a blow for the A380.
