Emirates has launched its first non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland, one of the world’s longest scheduled flights with an estimated flight time of just under 16 hours from Dubai to New Zealand and 17 hours, 15 minutes in the other direction, cutting journey times by almost three hours each way.

With the new flight, Emirates now serves New Zealand with five daily flights.

The flight brings 39 European destinations and another 38 in Africa and the Middle East within just one stop of New Zealand, Emirates said.


To celebrate the milestone, the first service was operated with a double-decker A380 rather than the Boeing 777-200LR that will regularly fly the route.

“This is an important development for our customers, for Emirates, and for New Zealand. We anticipate high demand for the route, providing a further boost to inbound tourist traffic into New Zealand that now exceeds three million a year. We also expect the service to be popular with New Zealanders seeking faster connections to Europe and the Middle East,” said Gary Chapman, president group services and dnata, Emirates Group.

Tourists, in particular, will now have more options – travelling to Auckland with a stopover in Australia on one of the award-winning airline’s three daily A380 services, flying non-stop direct into Auckland on the Boeing 777-200LR, or flying to the South Island on the daily Boeing 777-300ER Christchurch service, the airline said.

Joining Chapman onboard the first flight from Dubai were: the New Zealand Ambassador to the UAE, Jeremy Clarke-Watson; and the chief executive of Emirates Team New Zealand, Grant Dalton.

In command on the A380 flight deck today was New Zealander Andrew Duncan Mcfarlane and the cabin crew included several New Zealanders. Emirates employs nearly 400 New Zealanders, including 140 cabin crew and 95 pilots.

With the introduction of the non-stop service, Emirates will fly more than 2,000 seats a day in each direction on New Zealand services. Other features that the new flight will bring include:

The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft that will operate the new, non-stop route are purpose-built for ultra-longhaul flights, carrying up to 266 passengers. Like Emirates’ other New Zealand flights, the aircraft will offer three cabin classes.

The flights will feature Emirates’ gourmet meals and fine wines, and more than 2,000 channels of entertainment and information will be available on large, individual screens.

New Zealand exporters will also benefit from the new service, being able to access more capacity through Dubai, one of the world’s major cargo hubs, particularly of benefit with perishable goods for markets in the Middle East and Africa regions. New Zealand is renowned for its high quality produce including dairy products. - TradeArabia News Service