Emirates is launching a new daily service between Dubai and Auckland, via Bali, in time for summer.
The new service brings the number of daily Emirates flights to New Zealand to three - including the world's second-longest flight.
The Dubai-based airline currently operates a 16-hour marathon journey between Dubai and Auckland, as well as a daily A380 service between Dubai and Christchurch, via Sydney.
It will also up the number of flights heading for Bali to three daily in the northern hemisphere's summer months.
When the service launches on June 14, it will be the only non-stop daily service between Auckland and Bali - offering a gateway to the Indonesian islands for UAE travellers, or a tropical stopover en route to New Zealand. The airline will operate a Boeing 777-300ER on the route, offering a total of 354 seats onboard.
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Emirates airline president Sir Tim Clark said the airline was pleased to "introduce additional capacity to serve the strong demand for travel to Bali, and to Auckland".
"We are confident that our year-round service between Auckland and Bali will be well received by our customers, not only in New Zealand and Indonesia, but also from our global network particularly from markets like the UK, Europe and the Middle East.”
As well as an excellent excuse for an island stopover, the new service will also provide good connections to and from Europe. The Bali-bound flight will depart Dubai at 6.55am and arrive at 8.20pm local time, before taking off to Auckland at 10pm and arriving at 10am the following day.
Heading back the other way, the service will leave Auckland at 12.40pm, arrive in Bali at 5.55pm local time, departing at 7.50pm, arriving in Dubai at 12.45am - just in time to a catch a glut of flights bound for the UK and Europe.
Emirates' EK449 service from Dubai to Auckland once held the title of world's longest flight, but has since had to settle for runner-up.
The 14,200 kilometre service spans a lengthy 16 hours, and is typically served by an A380.
It was stripped of its "world's longest" crown in February this year, when Qatar started a Doha to Auckland service which stays airborne mere minutes longer.
Last week, Emirates and Qantas welcomed an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's draft determination that proposed giving a green light to the continued partnership of the two carriers for the next five years.
Emirates said in October that it will drop its flights to Auckland from Melbourne and Brisbane this year in the latest adjustment to its Australian operations, following an agreement to renew its partnership with Australia's Qantas.
The Dubai-based airline will drop the flights from March, while Qantas will add seven new return flights per week between Melbourne and Auckland and an extra two return services per week between Brisbane and Auckland.
