Emirates A380s will fly between New Zealand and Dubai five times daily from 30 October with the introduction of the airline’s double-decker flagship aircraft on Christchurch services.

Emirates will be the first airline to offer regular scheduled A380 services to and from Christchurch with the upgrade of the current daily Christchurch service from Boeing 777-300ERs, along with the removal of the en-route stop in Bangkok which will enable passengers to travel all the way between Christchurch and Dubai, with just one stop in Sydney.

The launch of the Christchurch A380 flights will coincide with the introduction of the A380 on Emirates’ daily non-stop route between Auckland and Dubai. Emirates currently also operates three other daily A380 services between Auckland and Dubai and beyond via Australia (Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane).

Outbound, A380 flight EK413 will depart Christchurch at 18:45 hours, touching down in Dubai at 05:15 hours the next day after its stop in Sydney, reducing the journey time to Dubai and Europe by about two hours in each direction.

The return flight, EK412, will depart Dubai at 10:15 hours, stopping only in Sydney before arriving in Christchurch at 13:50 hours the next day (local time).

Meantime, the Auckland A380 service flying via Sydney (EK419) will operate via Bangkok, as well as Sydney. It will depart Auckland at 16:30 hours and arrive in Dubai the following morning at 06:45 hours. The return flight, EK418, will depart Dubai at 08:55 hours and arrive in Auckland at 15:55 hours the following day (local time).