Dubai: Emirates said on Thursday it would start a direct daily flight to major New Zealand city Auckland on March 1.
The announcement comes just a week after Qatar Airways Chief Akbar Al Baker told Bloomberg his Doha-based airline would start direct flights to New Zealand this year.
The new Emirates flight, to be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR (long range) will be the first direct services between the Gulf and New Zealand.
“Operating a non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland has been in our sights for some time … we are particularly delighted that we can now bring this exciting plan to fruition,” Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed, Al Maktoum, Chief Executive and Chairman of Emirates airline and Group, said in the statement.
Emirates currently flies to New Zealand via Australia and through its partnership with Qantas and their subsidiary JetStar. Neither Qatar Airways nor Etihad Airways, the other major Gulf airline, flies to New Zealand, instead relying on code share flights with other carriers.
“It sounds like there were two strategic initiatives. First, Qatar Airways is finally growing around Australia/NZ and having a one-stop Auckland-Europe is a headline development with risk reduced by low fuel prices. Second, Emirates likely saw Qatar's development in a key market as an unacceptable challenge,” Will Horton, senior analyst at CAPA – Centre for Aviation, told Gulf News by email.
“It has to be a record or near-record to launch a long-haul flight in five weeks. Although it might be argued this is frequency growth, the non-stop should be attaining a yield premium, and at the very least there's not insignificant capacity to sell on short notice.”
The flight will take just under 16 hours from Dubai to New Zealand and 17 hours 15 minutes on the return, the Emirates statement said.
Longest flight
In August 2015, Emirates announced plans to launch the world’s longest flight – a 17 hour and 35 minute journey to Panama. However, Emirates has since pushed back the launch date by almost two months to March 31.
Also Thursday, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment said Emirates has seen a 5 per cent year-on-year increase in passengers over the Dubai Shopping Festival period.
The statement quoting Shaikh Majid Al Mulla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Centre, did not state the passenger numbers.
