Emirates eyes Darwin for Airbus A350 flights to Dubai
The Top End capital could become another addition to the Emirates network.
By David Flynn, January 31 2023
Emirates is casting its eye over Darwin as a new addition to the Gulf carrier’s global map and one of several fresh routes for the airline’s forthcoming fleet of Airbus A350 jets.
“I keep telling my guys you need to look at Darwin more seriously,” commented Emirates President Sir Tim Clark during at a media roundtable discussion in Melbourne last Friday.
And while the Top End lacks sufficient residents to fill a Boeing 777, let alone both decks of an Airbus A380, Clark feels it would be well-suited to the mid-sized A350, the first of which is due for delivery to Emirates in mid-2024.
“With the A350-900 I think we’ve got the makings of a very good aeroplane to serve markets like Darwin,” he said.
Darwin was “not as strong or robust as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane,” Clark added, “but there is movement now… I think we need to look at how we would get there and what would we do with that operation.”
Emirates’ roster of Australian destinations includes Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, although flights to Adelaide remain paused since the pandemic took hold in 2020.
However, given that Emirates doesn’t fly to Canberra with its population of 450,000, let alone Adelaide’s 1.4 million, opting for Darwin and its 150,000 population seems far from an obvious move.
Singapore Airlines already connects Darwin to the rest of the world via Singapore, with its Boeing 737 MAX making the five-hour dash to the Red Dot.
Emirates has not yet revealed how it intends to fit out its A350-900ss, although three-class configuration of business, premium economy and economy is considered most likely.
A close equivalent might then be Cathay Pacific’s A350-900, with 280 seats across the same three classes; by comparison, Emirates’ Boeing 777s start at 354 seats while the A380 superjumbo boasts a headcount of around 500.
As previously reported, Emirates continues to rebuild its Australian services to pre-pandemic levels, with Melbourne and Sydney each seeing the arrival of a third daily flight over the coming months, along with the return of the Sydney-Christchurch-Sydney A380.
22 Feb 2022
Total posts 7
Darwin doesn't make sense on its own - maybe as a connection point for passengers onto somewhere else, but not a final destination. Not enough volume in the Darwin market to make the numbers work.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1189
High airport fees at Darwin, fairly small O&D traffic and a limited number of connections make it a poor choice as a connection hub. Singapore is a much more logical point for hub operations.
11 Sep 2015
Total posts 195
Tim Clark doesn't toss out random statements like some other airline CEOs but I agree with this article in that the numbers don't seem to add up, at least in terms of the population. But maybe Emirates could do a 'tag' flight from Adelaide to Darwin to Dubai? The A350 wouldn't need to be daily, three times a week would suffice.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1189
Emirates also have the slightly smaller again 789s arriving sometime in 2024. Depending on how these are configured across 3 classes, this could be anywhere between 294 (LH) and 236 (QF) seats.
15 Sep 2012
Total posts 96
How about Dubai - Darwin - Canberra - Darwin- Dubai? Combine two destinations in one flight. Another idea is Dubai - Darwin- Nadi - Darwin- Dubai!
Open up new markets in South Pacific!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Nov 2018
Total posts 110
That could potentially work, as long as it got 5th freedom flights from darwin to Nadi
Etihad - Etihad Guest
21 Jul 2019
Total posts 149
That would be lovely for the Top End if it eventuates. But I am surprised for two reasons: Cairns has a larger population and arguably has a bit more variety to offer than Darwin. Secondly, if any ME carrier were considering our northern regions, I would have placed bets firmly on Qatar Airways instead of Emirates. QR has a good reputation for flying to second and even third tier destinations because their subfleet of smaller jets gives them that capability, which Emirates currently lacks.
21 Jul 2011
Total posts 95
DRW CNS maybe? Just no traffic between the two. CNS is ripe for the picking atm since the Chinese carriers and Cathay haven’t returned. The JQ Japan and SQ flights run at near capacity and FNQ is full of Europeans as we speak.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Jan 2014
Total posts 319
One of the main reasons both Darwin and Cairns continue to only attract budget international carriers is their lack of lounges, both are terrible, you would be disappointed to pay for a J ticket and have those lounges as part of the service.
Etihad - Etihad Guest
21 Jul 2019
Total posts 149
GBRGB, I completely agree that the lounge situation is substandard in both ports. But I think you're 'putting the cart before the horse' here. Route planners look at potential yields and profitability above all else (unless it's a 'prestige route' where nothing else matters). Lounge facilities, either pre-existing or new build would be really low down the scale of consideration at second and third tier ports, because route planners will almost take for granted that it'll be bad. So I don't think it's one of the main reasons. Also, Cairns has snagged several premium international carriers in the past (e.g. Cathay, JAL, Continental). So a bad lounge situation is clearly no impediment to full service premium carriers.
Etihad - Etihad Guest
27 Jun 2019
Total posts 11
I could see it as a tag on flight to the likes of Auckland in all honesty
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 117
Or a tag from DPS?
09 Jan 2023
Total posts 7
I would hope Emirates would restore its ADL service (surely the A350 would be ideal for that too) before considering DRW.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jun 2015
Total posts 34
TSV-DRW-DXB would be nice, but Air North may have an issue with it!
26 Nov 2015
Total posts 4
DXB - ADL - CHC would be great. Qatar fly ADL - AKL and it seems to work for them.
19 Jan 2018
Total posts 28
Sir Tim, why not seasonal B777 flights between Dubai and the Gold Coast. 50,000 wealthy Arabs descend on the GC which is unknown outside of SE Queensland but is now known as Arab Months ie July and August when it’s 50c in Dubai and a beautiful 27c every day on the GC. Christmas Easter and Schoolies now irrelevant compared to the cash that’s thrown around during Arab month.
10 Dec 2010
Total posts 8
I do think OOL -DXB would work with smaller planes of Emirates OR OOL- Qatar with Qatar airways via SIN or KUL
01 Mar 2019
Total posts 9
Great idea ,Only 3 flights a week to Singapore which takes 3 months to get on this service ,huge demand up here for more flights population growth with massive expansion up in the NT ,so would defiantly work
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