A380Mel-2: The delegation on Emirates' A380 service to Melbourne included (from left): Andrew Sayers, Regional Manager Emirates; John Marshall, the 1999 Melbourne Cup winning jockey; John Butler, Commissioner to the Middle East and North Africa, Government of Victoria; Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Far East & Australasia; Joe McGrath, Victoria Racing Club's International Relations Manager; and Steve Smith, COO ARN.
By Omolola Itayemi
Emirates continues to excite its passengers with the start of its daily Airbus A380 non-stop service to both Australia and New Zealand last Monday.
A380 operating as EK406, one of the daily Emirates flight to Melbourne, departs Dubai at 1010hrs (local time) and arrives in Melbourne at 0535hrs the following day. The flight continues to Auckland, departing Melbourne at 0710hrs and arriving in Auckland at 1345hrs. The return flight, EK407, departs Auckland at 1850hrs, arriving in Melbourne at 1950hrs, before leaving for Dubai at 2125hrs arriving at 0525hrs the next day.
On board the inaugural flight was Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Far East & Australasia; John Butler - Commissioner to the Middle East and North Africa, Government of Victoria; and the Emirates Melbourne Cup, accompanied by the 1999 Cup winning jockey John Marshall.
“Today is an important day in the history of Emirates and Australia. In 1996, Melbourne became our first destination in Australasia and it is fantastic that we can celebrate our long-term partnership with Victoria with the launch of our daily, non-stop Airbus A380 services ,said Mr Obaidalla.
“The A380 is an exceptional aircraft and has been in the pipeline for the Melbourne market for a few years. Today’s launch kick starts an exciting period of growth in our Australian business, from 1st November we launch non-stop flights to Adelaide and from 1st December introduce a third daily flight to Perth,” said Mr Obaidalla.
“It is also in New Zealand that we are continuing our investment and growth, with our latest A380 service continuing on to Auckland and arriving just moments before our daily A380 service from Sydney, which we began operating in February 2009. This second daily A380 service gives our passengers double the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful aircraft; which includes Private Suites and Shower Spas in First Class, flat-bed seats, all with aisle access, in Business Class and generous seating on the main deck in Economy Class,” added Mr Obaidalla.
Passengers in all classes can enjoy Emirates’ award-winning ‘ice’ Digital Widescreen, the industry’s most sophisticated video and audio system, offering 1,400 channels of on-demand entertainment - the largest selection of programming in the sky.