Emirates Makes Sydney An All-A380 Service, Plans Adelaide Return With New A350s

Emirates is making changes to its Australia network with plans to upgrade its services to Sydney to an all-Airbus A380 operation this winter, as well as eying a return to Adelaide next summer after a hiatus of four years.

The airline offers a double-daily service from Dubai International Airport to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) using A380s at present and provides a daily flight onboard Boeing 777-300ER equipment.

However, from Nov. 4 the route will operate using only A380s, with the third daily service set in a three-class configuration offering 489 seats. This will complement the two other SYD four-class services, which each offer a premium economy cabin.

In addition, Emirates has outlined its intention to resume flying to Adelaide Airport during the northern summer 2024 season. The airline says it is “in close discussions” with the airport to recommence nonstop services, having paused the route from DXB at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Should flights restart as planned, the carrier aims to deploy a new A350 aircraft on the route. Emirates has 50 A350-900s on order and expects to take delivery of its first by mid-2024. It says the aircraft will “facilitate further expansion of the airline’s global network by allowing its fleet to grow and freeing up more of Emirates’ long-range aircraft to serve points like Adelaide.”

Emirates currently operates 63 weekly services to Australia, offering close to 56,000 seats to and from its four major gateways. Melbourne and SYD operate 3X-daily, Brisbane is served with double-daily flights, and the airline also operates A380 service daily to Perth.

Emirates has additionally reintroduced services from Melbourne to Singapore, in addition to connecting Sydney with Christchurch, New Zealand.