Emirates’ A380 to return to Perth’s skies

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Emirates will reintroduce its flagship A380 to Perth from December 1, as part of the airline’s ramp up of services to Australia.

It will lead to an increase in seating capacity between the carrier's hub, Dubai, and Perth, with close to 500 seats available on each flight.

EK420 from Dubai will depart at 02:45, arriving in Perth at 17:20 the same day while EK421 flight will leave Perth at 22:20, arriving in Dubai at 05:25 the following day.

The daily A380 service will replace the existing daily Boeing 777- 300ER operating on the sector.

The upgauge comes as Emirates celebrates 20 years of serving the skies and communities of Perth.

Since August 2002, the airline has flown close to 6 million passengers between Perth and Dubai, travelling more than 220 million km on over 24,000 flights.

What initially started off as a four times weekly service grew to a daily operation in May 2003 and was followed by the opening of Emirates’ first Perth lounge in February 2006.

In recognition of the demand for its premium offering, Emirates introduced its signature First Class Suites in March 2008 which was extended across multiple services.

The airline touched down with its flagship A380 for the first time in May 2015, highlighting its ongoing commitment to the market.

Emirates has also been a longstanding supporter of arts, cultural and sporting institutions during this period in Western Australia, with investments across a number of initiatives.

The airline’s cargo arm, Emirates SkyCargo, has also been an important contributor to the local economy, exporting meat, fruit and vegetables and mining equipment across the airline’s global route network including the Middle East, Europe and beyond.

Emirates has seen a strong increase in passenger bookings to and from Australia with significant demand across all its cabins, particularly following the launch of its Premium Economy which was first introduced on one of its daily Sydney services on August 1.

Customers of Emirates and Qantas have access to an expansive network of destinations thanks to the codeshare partnership between the two airlines.

Together, they provide access to more than 100 codeshare destinations, including 55 points across Australia and New Zealand.

Qantas customers can fly with Emirates to Dubai and access over 50 cities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to its Perth services, Emirates also operates twice daily A380 services from Dubai to Melbourne and Sydney, and once daily service from Dubai to Brisbane.

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