Emirates will introduce an additional Premium Economy service between Melbourne and Dubai, from February 1 on EK408 and EK409.
The additional service follows the debut of Emirates’ Premium Economy service from Melbourne in April 2023, when the new cabin was made available on the daily EK406 and EK407 services. This latest development means Emirates now offers close to 800 weekly Premium Economy seats between Melbourne and its Dubai hub.
The Premium Economy cabin offers a signature experience unmatched in the industry, offering plush cream leather seats and a wood veneer, a generous baggage allowance and an exceptional dining experience, staffed by a team of Cabin Crew dedicated to Premium Economy passengers.
The added Premium Economy service means that the airline will be serving Australia with close to 3,200 seats, including two daily services from Sydney and two daily services from Melbourne, maintaining Australia’s position as one of the key markets served with the airline’s best-in-class Premium Economy cabins.
Since tickets for the Emirates Premium Economy service went on sale in Sydney in August 2022 and in Melbourne in April 2023, the new cabin class has exceeded expectations and forecasts with more than 90,000 passengers flying to and from Australia opting for the new cabin experience. Premium Economy seats from Sydney and Melbourne have averaged over 80 per cent load factors and the airline continues to anticipate consistently high demand for the new cabin class in Melbourne as consumer confidence and travel demand continue to accelerate in the new year.
Divisional Vice President Australasia at Emirates, Barry Brown, said, “As one of the most important markets in our global network, we are committed to offering Australians not only greater connectivity but also more choice and differentiated offerings.
“With the extraordinary success of the Premium Economy cabin so far in Australia, the additional Premium Economy service in Melbourne will give more customers the opportunity to experience our unique premium products,” he said.
The introduction of the additional Premium Economy service to Melbourne is part of Emirates’ multi-million dollar retrofit programme, where 126 aircraft, including 67 A380s and 53 Boeing 777s, will be fitted out with Premium Economy cabins. Currently, 22 A380s flying across the network have been fitted with our Premium Economy cabin. On a four-class Emirates A380 flying from Melbourne or Sydney, the Premium Economy cabin is located at the front of the main deck with 56 seats laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration.
Boarding and leaving the aircraft offers a step up from Economy. Flying with Emirates on its flagship A380 and passengers even beat the Business and First Class passengers off with the Premium Economy cabin situated at the front of the lower deck meaning passengers can leave from the lower front door.
The additional service of Premium Economy to Melbourne adds to a bumper period of increased operations from Emirates in Australia, reaffirming its ongoing commitment to growing its services down under and providing eager travellers with more access to and from the country.
In March last year, Emirates added a third daily service from Melbourne which introduced a stopover in Singapore, as well as restoring the airline’s daily connection from Christchurch to Dubai via Sydney.
From May, the airline introduced a third daily service to Sydney, before boosting available seats by upgrading this service to an A380 in November. A second daily flight was also added to Brisbane in June.
