Emirates has announced its much awaited return to Adelaide, marking a significant milestone in South Australia’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
The daily service, launching on October 28, will reconnect passengers with the Dubai-based carrier’s extensive global network, offering enhanced travel options and trade opportunities.
This development brings several benefits to both travellers and businesses. Passengers will enjoy seamless connections to over 140 destinations, including key European markets, the UK, Middle East, India, and the US East Coast.
The convenient schedule optimises connections, with many European destinations accessible within four hours.
Additionally, the reinstatement of daily flights is expected to generate over $62m in tourism expenditure annually, creating hundreds of tourism-related jobs in South Australia.
The airline currently serves Australia with 63 weekly flights to Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, operated by a mix of A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft transporting 56,000 passengers per week to and from these major cities.
Emirates flights to raise cargo capacity
For businesses, Emirates’ return assures enhanced freight export opportunities. The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft offers 14 tonnes of cargo space per flight, totalling 196 tonnes weekly between Dubai and Adelaide. The value of freight exports is estimated to be $98m per year, bringing the total estimated expenditure generated by the carrier’s flights to Adelaide to $160m.
This expanded capacity supports local producers in reaching new markets in the Middle East and Europe.
“Reinstating flights to Adelaide has been a top priority,” says South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas.
Emirates first launched its Adelaide services in 2012 and carried more than 165,000 passengers between Dubai and Adelaide in 2019.
Flight details and services to Australia
Flight EK440 will depart from Dubai at 2am and arrive in Adelaide at 8.50pm. The return flight EK441 will depart from Adelaide at 11:35pm and arrive in Dubai at 5:15pm. All times are local.
The airline recently announced that it would double its Premium Economy offering on flights to Melbourne which started on February 1, adding to the two daily four-class A380 services to Sydney.
From October 1, the airline will upgauge its second service between Dubai and Brisbane to an A380, creating an all A380 operation from Brisbane.
From December 1, the carrier will reinstate its second Perth service on a Boeing 777-300ER, joining the existing A380 service.
On reinstating the second daily service to Perth, the airline will offer 77 weekly flights from Australia with the ability to transport 68,000 passengers per week to and from Australia, returning to its pre-pandemic capacity.
