Emirates A380 to take on world’s longest flight from Dubai to Auckland

The Dubai airline announced that it plans to operate its daily non-stop services between Dubai and Auckland with an A380 aircraft from October 30.

Emirates will service the 'world's longest passenger flight' from Dubai to Auckland by flying an Airbus A380 in October. It currently uses a Boeing 777,  AFP PHOTO
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Emirates is to upgrade what is currently the world’s longest scheduled airline flight by flying double decker A380 planes on its new service between Dubai and New Zealand’s largest city Auckland.

The Dubai airline announced this morning that it plans to operate its daily non-stop services between Dubai and Auckland with an A380 aircraft from October 30.

The new EK448 route, which Emirates opened on March 1, will depart Dubai at 10.05am and arrive in Auckland the following day at 11.10am (local time). Westbound, flight EK449 will depart Auckland each night at 9.15pm, arriving in Dubai the following morning at 5.35am (local time).

The very first flight from Dubai to Auckland and return at the beginning of March was operated by an A380 to especially commemorate the start of the non-stop route, but the flights have since been flown by the Boeing 777-200LR.

Last month, Emirates placed a new order for an additional two new A380 aircraft, to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, bringing its order books for the aircraft to 64.

The move is part of a trend among Gulf carriers to increase route lengths as airlines hope to attract more transit passengers to make once marginal routes viable.

Later this year Qatar Airways plans to open services from Doha to both Auckland and Santiago in Chile, both of which will exceed the Emirates Auckland route in length.

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