Emirates plans all-Airbus A380 service to Sydney by November

Emirates is upgrading its services to Sydney by moving to an all-Airbus A380 operation from November 4.

Currently, two of the three daily flights to the Australian city are served by A380s, both of which offer the Dubai airline's premium economy. This upgrade will replace the Boeing 777-300ER that's deployed on the third service.

This means Emirates will be able to offer about 2,000 extra seats every week, as each return flight adds more than 260 extra daily seats.

The third A380 flight will depart from Dubai at 9.30pm, arriving in Sydney at 6.20pm local time, while the return flight leaves at 9.10pm and lands in Dubai at 4.30am.

An expansion into Australia

Australia is a major route for the UAE carrier, as it operates 63 weekly services to the country, with about 56,000 seats to and from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Emirates has also reintroduced services from Melbourne to Singapore, as well as a connection between Sydney and Christchurch. This is the only A380 experience across the Trans-Tasman, the airline confirms.

A return to Adelaide is also planned for next summer. The route will be served by the Airbus A350. "The airline is in close discussions with Adelaide Airport to recommence non-stop services as part of its commitment to reconnect travellers from every corner of Australia to its network," reads the announcement.

A380s in the Emirates fleet

The airline has a total of 116 Airbus A380s in its fleet, with about 90 serving 50 destinations worldwide. Passenger capacity on the double-decker, wide-body jet ranges from 484 to 615, with room for up to 24 crew.

The airline is also in the process of upgrading 67 A380s, along with 53 Boeing 777s, as part of a multi-billion-dollar plan to introduce premium economy class, new seats, finishes and flooring, with work set to finish in 2025.

While Emirates took delivery of the last manufactured A380 in December 2021, it believes the model will be in the air for the next 20 years.

“It's an iconic aircraft. Customers absolutely love it. They go out of their way to fly on it," Richard Jewsbury, an Emirates executive, told industry publication Simple Flying last week. "It's going to be the late 2030s, maybe early 2040s, before we wave goodbye to the last A380. They're going to be here for the foreseeable future.”