Celebration time for Emirates' Dubai-Auckland A380 flight

One of the key reasons for the successful completion of one year for Emirates‘ Dubai-Auckland route was the deployment of Airbus A380 aircraft, says the airline.

The airline on Wednesday celebrated the completion of one year on the non-stop route, flown first with a Boeing 777-200LR and then, since October 30 last year, with the A380. With the induction of the double decker super jumbo, the seat capacity has jumped to 491 from B77’s 266.

 On this world’s flight for an A380, the upper deck features 14 first class suites and 76 business class pods, as well as shower spas up front and an onboard lounge at the rear.In a statement, Emirates said the Boeing 777-200LR was an ideal aircraft to start with on the route and it has been able to build on that successful launch period with the upgrade in capacity provided by its flagship A380s. The versatility and popularity of the A380 has led to the expansion of the aircraft’s destinations, which now number 44 and will include Sao Paulo in Brazil and Casablanca in Morocco from late March. The A380’s introduction on the Dubai-Auckland non-stop flight last October after eight months of Boeing 777 operations at “very high load factors” was a successful move for Emirates, especially as it can now offer the A380 service between a number of destinations in Europe and New Zealand with only one stop, at the airline’s Dubai hub, and a simple six- to seven-hour journey beyond, the statement noted. “In addition, from a customer’s point of view, Emirates has been able to offer a total consistency of product on its New Zealand routes, with A380s also on its three daily services to Auckland and daily flight to Christchurch via Australia from Dubai and beyond.”In its first year of operation on the non-stop route between Auckland and Dubai, Emirates said it enjoyed an overall load factor of more than 80%. The average flight time northbound has been 16 hours 57 minutes while southbound the duration (usually with tail winds) has been 15 hours 38 minutes – “somewhat better” than scheduled flight times, the airline said, adding that more than 210,000 meals have been provided in-flight on the non-stop route over the past year.Further, Emirates stressed that it “strongly supported” New Zealand’s tourism industry in 2016, carrying more than 1.1mn passengers to and from New Zealand in a year in which the nation’s export earnings from tourism reached a record NZ$10.1bn ($7.26bn).