Emirates is to enhance its operations to Australia to meet pent-up demand for travel into and out of the country.

Vaccination rates in New South Wales have reached their target and Victoria is not far behind. The two states will allow vaccinated travellers to return to Australia without quarantine.

Emirates says from November 2 it is stepping up the frequency on flights EK414/415 between Dubai and Sydney to daily, using a Boeing 777-300ER. Flights EK408/409 to Melbourne will operate four times a week, with the potential to increase in line with demand.

Australian citizens and residents who are vaccinated against COVID-19 with a TGA-approved vaccine, will now be able to enjoy unrestricted travel once again to and from the two points (Melbourne and Sydney) for the first time since the pandemic began, whether travelling abroad to global destinations for leisure or travelling homewards to visit family or friends.

Emirates also said in a release that it would once again deploy its flagship A380 aircraft on the Dubai-Sydney route on a daily basis from December 1. It will offer 516 seats in a three-class configuration – 426 seats in economy class, 76 in business class and 14 in first class.

Barry Brown, Emirates Divisional Vice President for Australasia, said: “Starting November 1, Australians will also be able to plan a holiday and travel internationally. Of course, that’s good news for us as we are ready to serve those customers with access to our network spanning more than 120 destinations via our hub in Dubai, which is convenient for those considering a stopover to embrace the wonders of Expo 2020 Dubai.” 

Thanks to a codeshare agreement, customers of Emirates and Qantas have access to an expansive network of destinations, giving Emirates passengers access to over 55 Australian destinations. Reciprocally, Qantas customers are able to fly on Emirates to Dubai and access over 50 cities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Emirates says it still continues to operate to Brisbane and Perth with government-mandated capacity restrictions in place, requiring all passengers to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine until travel restrictions are relaxed in Queensland and Western Australia.

All passengers from Southern Africa transiting in Dubai require a negative PCR test result issued within the 72 hours prior to departure.