Emirates may have just beaten Qatar Airways to the punch by announcing direct services between Auckland and Dubai.
The announcement comes days after rumours spread of Qatar’s plans to launch flights between New Zealand and its base in Doha.
While Qatar is yet to confirm its flights, Emirates has jumped in to announce its first non-stop service to the city.
Commencing 2 March this year, the service will be in addition to the existing daily Christchurch service and the Auckland-Sydney-Dubai flights.
Flight time will be around 16 hours from Dubai and 17 hours, 15 minutes in the other direction – almost three hours shorter each way for Kiwis wishing to travel from Auckland into the Middle East and onwards.
The new route, which will depart the New Zealand city every night at 9.30pm to arrive in Dubai at 5.45am (local time). It will then return, leaving Dubai at 10.05am to arrive in Auckland at 11.00am (local time).
The Boeing 777-200LR will be utilised, offering eight First Class suites, 42 lie-flat Business Class seats and 216 comfortable Economy Class seats.
Flights will feature Emirates’ gourmet meals and fine wines, and more than 2,000 channels of entertainment and information will be available on large, individual screens. Passengers will have the airline’s usual generous free baggage allowances – 30kg for Economy Class, 40kg for Business Class, and 50kg for First Class.
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said Auckland has been in the airline’s sights for some time and the company’s was delighted to bring the plan to fruition.
“This will be a boon to many business people, tourists, expatriate New Zealanders and other travellers in Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East.”
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Airline and Group Chairman and Chief Executive
“Tourists, in particular, will now have more options – travelling to Auckland with a stopover in Australia on one of our three daily A380s, flying non-stop direct into Auckland, or flying to the South Island on our daily Christchurch service.
“New Zealand currently hosts about three million tourists a year and we want to do our part to cater for that flow and grow that figure above current expectations.”