Emirates upgrades Auckland-Dubai to non-stop Airbus A380

Well done Emirates!  Certainly gaining a lot of market share in Oceania.  I wonder if this is a replacement route for the DXB-Panama City route which has been delayed by 2 months due to the abysmal sales on it.

All we need now is Etihad to start flying to NZ to really start the competition :)

Wow, this is a fantastic announcement! It does make me wonder though whether this flight will be filled - I assume it will be charged at a premium compared to the 1 stop options via Australia.  17+ hours in economy wouldn't be fun either!

17 hours in an Emirates 777 Economy seat?

The drinks better be strong and the passengers better have a lot of valium on hand because that would be torture. Utter torture. Seriously, routes like these make me just want to beat on Sir Timmy's door and say "come on, just a small Economy Plus section with 9-abreast seating, please!!!"

Plus EK's old business isn't much to be enthusiastic about either.

IMO, anyone flying from AKL to Europe who only wants one stop and cannot afford First Class should take Cathay or Singapore.

That said, I'm somewhat surprised by this route announcement. I would've thought EK/EY/QR would've waited for 777-8s before doing direct AKL flights.

I agree withStudiodeKadent . Using a B777-200 LR with those horrible Business Class seats for a 17 hr. flight is beyond sensible comprehension. The seats on the A380 are marginally better but they are still amongst  the worst Business Class seats around , absolutely awful but terrible on the B777.

No person with any good sense would contemplate sitting for 17 hrs in theses seats , 13 hrs on the A380 Business Class was 13 hrs. too long for me. If SQ or Etihad were allowed to compete on these routes with their B77-200 LR's  the EK Flights would be almost empty.

Very good news.

Super long flight on a tight plane!

What are the newer jets that can take on this B777-200LR? A350-900 as per SQ's plan for SIN - LAX

Wonder if QF will codeshare on this service.

“Operating a non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland has been in our sights for some time,” ...

Seems a little curious then that the press announcement (and the allowance for existing one-stop bookings to be able to switch) is announced only one month before startup of the route in March.

What's with all the latest new routes into and out of NZ!!!

Singapore Airlines, Air Asia, Emirates (direct to Dubai), Qatar (potentially).

Good news.

I see potential for an expanded tie up with QF, which could see one of the EK  BKK or SIN stopover services jump straight onto Auckland instead of Australia with QF picking up the Australia to SIN leg. This could allow EK another direct aus to DXB flight. In addition, if QF coded on SIN/BKK to AKL which would give NZ/SQ a run for their money. 

That's the way to travel now. With another exciting nonstop flights introduce from point to point to max new aircraft utilization. UNITED launches newnonstop from SFO hub to SIN in July 2016 utilizing B789. 8441 NM with flying time 16 hours 35 mins & SIN back to SFO for 15 hours 30 mins. This will wonder what SQ is thinking for waiting for 2018 if it is really going to realize to offer nonstop using A350 ULR. AWESOME with more nonstop market opens up. Great way to fly.

hmmmm... angled flat beds for the world's longest flight... no thanks

Non stop is the way to go. No point in building these long range planes if airlines don't utilise the potential

At this rate even Adelaide will get an A380 by EK! But I definitely want Tim Clark to seat in Y on the inaugural service.

4, maybe 5 (SQ) A380s on the ground at once in Auckland.

Can't imagine that would be a very pleasant situation for the traveller since they're struggling for gate space already.

Also, I wonder how much traffic is being cannibalised from the AUS-AKL services.

Amazing stuff - 4 EK A380's on the ground at the same time, assuming this is not matched anywhere but DBX? Also how many other cities get 4?

Based on aviation load factors by the department of infustruture and regional dev EK's cross tasman routes had a load factor of around 90% interesting to see if this changes 

This is absolutely smashing news although not much of a surprise considering that Emirates is now well known for going the distance boldly. However, I am wondering whether the Airbus A380 will be able to fly the Dubai-Auckland-Dubai legs with full payload. There may be some payload restrictions as the A380's range is lesser than the Boeing 777-200LRs that currently ply on the route.

Didn't see that one coming... said no one ever

Is this the beginning of the end of Trans-Tasman F? Let's hope not!