Emirates is celebrating 25 years of flying to Australia. Since the inaugural flight between Dubai and Melbourne in 1996, Emirates has transported more than 39 million passengers on its routes between Australian ports including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Over a quarter of a century, Emirates has increased the size of its operations in Australia from three flights a week when it initially launched in 1996 in Melbourne, peaking to over 100 flights per week prior to the pandemic.
Emirates has operated 204,000 flights to and from its Australian ports over the 25 years with the top international destinations for Australians including the UK, Ireland, Italy and Greece.
The total kilometres clocked by Emirates’ aircraft travelling in and out of Australia since operations began is 1.7 billion kilometres – enough to travel the world around roughly 42,700 times.
Celebrating its silver jubilee, Barry Brown, Emirates Divisional Vice President for Australasia, said the landmark milestone highlights the airline’s long-standing commitment to the Australian market and its people, with continuous services.
“Australia remains one of Emirates’ most important markets, and it’s our crew, local suppliers and, of course, our Australian passengers that have made the last 25 years so memorable. We are here for the long haul and, despite the challenges and restrictions imposed on airlines operating in Australia over the past year, we continued serving the country and our customers irrespectively.
“The continued expansion of our network both globally and throughout the major cities in Australia allows us to connect passengers from Australia to all corners of the world via our hub in Dubai. As the world begins to open up once more, and international travel can be seen on the horizons for Australians longing for travel later this year, we look forward to continuing to serve customers and playing our part in re-connecting friends and families and offering a gateway to the rest of the world for years to come,” he said.
Over the last quarter of the century, the airline has invested more than $100 million in local sponsorships of many of Australia’s leading sporting teams and events, ranging from the Collingwood Football Club, The Melbourne Open Tennis since 2015 and Emirates Australian Open Golf since 2009.
Past Emirates’ sponsorships have also included Victoria Racing Club and Emirates Melbourne Cup, a partnership that lasted for 20 years and the Australian PGA Championship and Emirates Western Force.
Emirates has become the first airline to implement the International Air Transport Association’s IATA Travel Pass solution on six continents as it rolls out this digital health pass to customers at all its destinations.
Currently available to Emirates customers travelling from 50 cities, the roll-out across all 120+ Emirates destinations is expected to be completed by October.
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