Emirates upgrades Melbourne-Singapore-Dubai flights to A380
By Chris C., August 11 2015
Emirates will upgrade its Melbourne-Singapore-Dubai flights to its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft from early next year, bringing with it an improved travel experience for all guests regardless of their seat number.
From March 2 2016, the superjumbo takes flight on EK405 from Melbourne (EK404 on the return) in place of the current Boeing 777-300ER.
Passengers can book the Melbourne-Singapore leg as a journey in itself or continue to Dubai and beyond to destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Emirates’ daily service between Dubai and Melbourne, through Singapore has proven a popular choice amongst travellers,” said Barry Brown, Emirates’ DSVP, Commercial East.
The upgrade marks Emirates’ sixth-daily A380 flight to Australia and the sole superjumbo plying the Melbourne-Singapore skies, after Singapore Airlines dropped its daily A380 on the same route in late 2014 in favour of a Boeing 777-300ER.
The Emirates A380 brings with it two ‘shower spas’ for first class passengers…
… fully-flat beds in business class with direct aisle access for every passenger – an improvement to the Boeing 777’s ‘sloping sleeper’ seats in business class…
… an inflight bar and lounge for both business and first class passengers…
… and more shoulder room for guests in economy.
Emirates also flies the A380 on its non-stop Melbourne-Dubai flights (EK407/406), and will retain the existing Boeing 777-300ER on flights from Melbourne to Dubai via Kuala Lumpur (EK409/408).
Also read:
- Emirates first class lounge, Dubai Airport Concourse A review
- Emirates: first class private bedroom for Airbus A380, Boeing 777
- Review: Emirates Airbus A380 inflight cocktail bar and lounge
- A380 first class suites: Qantas, Emirates, Etihad, SQ compared
- Emirates Airbus A380 business class review: Sydney-Dubai
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Jun 2014
Total posts 210
Should bring some good competition for SQ and better options for QF pax. (Although the a330's new business is much nicer than the EK a380's). Nice to see that the 3-4-3 in economy 777 is now a less frequent visitor to MEL. And for those of you who unlike myself can afford to splash out on F it'll now make it possible to shower on the way to SIN albeit with the golden surroundings.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Aug 2014
Total posts 503
Well it's not gonna change my prefrences when going to SIN but certainly happy to see another A380 service to come to Melbourne especially when SQ dropped their 380s from here.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Apr 2015
Total posts 55
Ignoring the bars and the shower, I find the seats in F on the 777 nicer and roomier than those on the A380. Am I the only one?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 785
No. EK J/F seats are quite frankly too narrow in general.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Jan 2013
Total posts 50
Would be great to see the the SYD-BKK-DXB flights upgraded to A380 as well at some point.
12 Aug 2015
Total posts 1
That's mean EK418/419 SYD-CHC vv needs to be upgraded to A380 too !
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 May 2013
Total posts 25
Does Christchurch even have the facilities to handle an A380 ?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Jun 2014
Total posts 210
They have had EK's a380 in CHC before, which means runways and taxiways must be suitable but obviously the ground handling could be another story, I guess (someone can correct me here) if the BKK-DXB and SYD-BKK had significantly more load factor than the CHC-SYD then they could get away with CHC being not 'fully a380 equipped' ???
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Jun 2014
Total posts 210
Whoever downvoted B748, Why? EK 418/419 does infact go DXB-BKK-SYD-CHC-SYD-BKK-DXB which means the hop across the Tasman would have to become an a380 if the other two legs did as well.
Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus
15 Jan 2013
Total posts 464
About time although my carrier and option to Singapore being from Adelaide is Singapore Airlines at the present time.I maybe well consider a change to getting the Lunchtime Qantas to Melbourne TO link up with this service onwards MEL-SIN and follow the same path coming back by also getting a lunch hour flight connecting onwards MEL-ADL.
03 Aug 2015
Total posts 58
Great to see another A380 in Melbourne! Same as Sydney now in terms of Emirates A380's!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Mar 2015
Total posts 232
It does not matter if EK use the A380 on this service with those HORRIBLE business class seats , discerning Business Class passengers will avoid them
Those seats are not a patch on SQ and almost all others , very narrow , too full of bling and confined.
The worst I have ever experinced by a long way!!!
Their service is good though but why would you travel in those seats when far better are available ?????????
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
14 Feb 2014
Total posts 33
oh the horrid first world problems business class seats are too narrow, im just grateful to be in position to use them every time and not complain as i am sure many people would. seriously unless you're a size of an elephant the seats are perfectly comfortable
Lufthansa - Miles & More
29 Jul 2014
Total posts 182
Im 6"5 and about 180 pounds and I find it very hard to use the seat as it is too narrow im not very broad either so I do not get the narrowness of the seat it is cramped and when in bed mode I ended up on my sholder which cause alot of pain. There neibour or EY is alot better for all classes and services.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
07 Sep 2012
Total posts 146
Switching to the 380 on this route doesn't surprise me. With both this flight and the direct flight from MEL-DXB often full in J, those extra J seats will be most welcome. The 3am flight MEL-DXB via KUL in the 777 more often has spare J seats, so I can't see them upgrading that one to a 380 on the near future.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Mar 2013
Total posts 132
Must be a few new A380s joining their fleet. I've had this and DXB-PRG changed on an up-coming booking, along with my AY flight changed to the A350. Can't say I'm sad to be off the 777s and A340!
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