Emirates will ramp up flights to Brisbane and Perth over the coming weeks as each state lifts its long-standing overseas travel lockdown.
Brisbane will see five Emirates flights per week from January 1, with the Boeing 777-300ER of flights EK430/EK431 no longer subject to capacity restrictions since Queensland reached its 80% double-dose vaccination target earlier this month – unlocking all 350+ seats across the big jet’s three cabin classes.
Emirates says the not-quite-daily Brisbane flights have “the potential to increase in line with demand,” with Australian head Barry Brown noting that “the demand for international travel grows by the day.”
Emirates’ flights EK420/EK421 to and from Perth will toggle up to five times per week from February 5, again without any restriction on the number of passengers, after WA Premier Mark McGowan declared the state would open its borders to fully vaccinated domestic and international visitors without the need for quarantine from that date.
The move comes as the Dubai-based colossus continues to rebuild its presence in Australia, where it was previously one of the country’s leading international carriers alongside Singapore Airlines.
Melbourne will see the return of Emirates’ flagship Airbus A380 from February 1, following a similar December 1 upgrade for Sydney.
These Australian-bound A380s feature 14 enclosed first class suites and 76 business class seats, although not the airline’s new premium economy, launched in December 2020 and still found on only a handful of jets.
The upper deck cocktail bar is once again open for business and first class passengers, although the airline notes that “capacity is currently limited to a maximum of four seated customers and standing in the lounge is not permitted.”
However, the airline’s lounges at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth are not slated to unlock their doors until next year, with a spokesperson for Emirates telling Executive Traveller that its Australian lounges “remain closed until further notice.”
And as for Adelaide, Emirates remains tight-lipped about when it would recommence flights to the City of Churches, saying it “is one amongst many cities where Emirates operations remain suspended due to ongoing impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We hope to restart our operations in Adelaide when it is commercially and operationally feasible to do so in the future,” a spokesman for the airline tells Executive Traveller.
