Emirates connects Sydney to Christchurch

The new air link will operate as an extension of Emirates' Dubai-Sydney daily non-stop service and replace the airline's current Dubai-Melbourne-Christchurch routing, which will instead connect Melbourne to Auckland on 15th July. Also effective that same day, Emirates' Dubai-Singapore-Melbourne-Auckland service will terminate in Melbourne.

Richard Vaughan, Emirates' Senior Vice President East Asia and Australasia said: "This move caters to our customer's changing requirements, in particular the strong passenger demand for travel between Sydney and Christchurch. We keep a close watch on market trends, and are taking the opportunity to review our services in Australasia as we expand our network and aircraft fleet."

Emirates will continue to operate four flights a day from Dubai to New Zealand - daily to Christchurch, and thrice a day to Auckland. On the new Dubai-Sydney-Christchurch routing, Emirates will operate its Airbus A340-500 aircraft which offers over 500 channels of on-demand personal entertainment in all classes; 12 luxurious First class suites; 42 and 204 seats in Business and Economy classes respectively; as well as 14 tonnes of bellyhold capacity for cargo.

From its modern Dubai hub, Emirates offers passengers and shippers from Africa, Europe and the Middle East a speedy one-stop service to New Zealand's north and south islands, as well as excellent flight options to four cities in Australia - Sydney (twice daily), Melbourne (twice daily), Perth (daily) and Brisbane (daily). Emirates also plans to double its services to Perth by October this year.