Emirates launches milestone Dubai-Auckland non-stop route

Emirates has launched its first non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland, one of the world’s longest scheduled flights, bringing 39 European destinations and another 38 in Africa and the Middle East within just one stop of New Zealand.

And to celebrate the milestone, the first service was operated with a double-decker A380 rather than the Boeing 777-200LR that will regularly fly the route.

“This is an important development for our customers, for Emirates, and for New Zealand. We anticipate high demand for the route, providing a further boost to inbound tourist traffic into New Zealand that now exceeds three million a year. We also expect the service to be popular with New Zealanders seeking faster connections to Europe and the Middle East,” said Gary Chapman, President Group Services & dnata, Emirates Group.

Emirates’ new service will bring New Zealand much closer to destinations in Europe and the Middle East than at present, with an estimated flight time of just under 16 hours from Dubai to New Zealand and 17 hours, 15 minutes in the other direction, cutting journey times by almost three hours each way.

Tourists, in particular, will now have more options – travelling to Auckland with a stopover in Australia on one of the award-winning airline’s three daily A380 services, flying non-stop direct into Auckland on the Boeing 777-200LR, or flying to the South Island on the daily Boeing 777-300ER Christchurch service.

With the introduction of the non-stop service, Emirates will fly more than 2,000 seats a day in each direction on New Zealand services.

The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft that will operate the new, non-stop route are purpose-built for ultra-longhaul flights, carrying up to 266 passengers. Like Emirates’ other New Zealand flights, the aircraft will offer three cabin classes: in the case of the Boeing 777, eight First Class suites, 42 lie-flat Business Class seats and 216 comfortable Economy Class seats.

Click here to watch Emirates’ inaugural non-stop service from Dubai landing in Auckland.

Emirates operates daily scheduled flights between Malta and Dubai on an A340-300 aircraft. Emirates flies twice weekly to Malta, on Mondays and Wednesdays, via Larnaca in Cyprus, and on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays the airline operates the Dubai - Malta route on a circular routing via Tunis in Tunisia. The return flight flies direct from Malta to Dubai.