Various airlines have recently announced new flights and destinations as COVID restrictions fall away and demand for travel is on the rise.
Emirates increasing flights to APAC
Emirates announced it has boosted operations by 31 percent (total ASKMs) since the start of its financial year and has further plans to ramp up seat capacity in its latest published northern summer schedule starting 26 March 2023. Among its upcoming route enhancements, Emirates will relaunch its daily direct flight between Singapore and Melbourne from 26 March 2023, in response to strong travel demand. In the past months, the airline has planned and executed the rapid growth of its network operations – reintroducing services to 5 cities; launching flights to one new destination (Tel Aviv); adding 251 weekly flights onto existing routes; and continuing the roll-out of service enhancements in the air and on the ground.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer said: “Emirates continues to expand its global network and deploy its capacity to meet travel demand across the world. Our financial year started relatively quietly as we held back our ramp up until the planned northern runway rehabilitation program at Dubai International airport was completed in June. From July 2022 onwards, it’s been non-stop expansion.”
In the coming months, established routes to Europe, Australia and Africa will be served with more Emirates flights, while in East Asia, more cities are seeing route restarts. Emirates continues to scale up its A380 operations with the reintroduction of the iconic double-decker across its network: Glasgow (from 26 March), Casablanca (from 15 April), Beijing (from 01 May), Shanghai (from 04 June), Nice (from 01 June), Birmingham (from 01 July), Kuala Lumpur (from 01 August), and Taipei (from 01 August).
Vietjet connecting to Queensland
Fifty years after Australia established diplomatic relations with Vietnam, the first non-stop flights connecting the rapidly developing nation and Queensland will launch in June. Vietjet will operate twice weekly services between Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Brisbane Airport (BNE), with Eco-Class fares staring from $AUD200 one-way (plus taxes & fees). The flights are predicted to inject $25.6 million into Queensland’s visitor economy and support 240 jobs in the first year of operation. The three-year deal will support the planned growth of flights to four services per week by year three.
Brisbane Airport Corporation Chief Executive Officer Gert-Jan de Graaff says the arrival of Vietjet enhances BNE’s role as a key Asia-Pacific Gateway. “Vietnam is a rapidly growing market for Queensland and we are delighted to have Vietjet join the BNE family. To have Vietnam and the Sunshine State connected for the first time by non-stop flights will deliver benefits in two countries.”
Vietjet’s Vice President Nguyen Thanh Son says the addition of Brisbane to its list of destinations would be a catalyst for the growth of tourism and trade between the two nations. “We are very excited to fly first direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Queensland. The addition of Brisbane to our list of destinations would be another development to broadly connect Australia and Vietnam.”
China Airlines expands European network
China Airlines announced direct flights from Taipei to Prague with the A350 passenger aircraft from July 2023. Beginning 18 July China Airlines will operate two flights per week, making China Airlines the only airline to fly directly between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. The China Airlines Taipei-Prague service will depart every Tuesday and Saturday. The outbound flight CI067 from Taipei to Prague will take off from Taoyuan Airport at 23:20 and arrive at 07:10 the following morning local time after a flight of 13 hours and 50 minutes. The return flight CI068 will take off at 11:05 local time and arrive at Taoyuan Airport at 05:35 the following morning after a flight of 12 hours and 30 minutes. The direct flights will be carried out by the A350, the next-generation aircraft and the mainstay of China Airlines on transoceanic routes. The A350 is configured with 32 Premium Business Class, 31 Premium Economy Class, and 243 Economy Class seats.
For Editorial Inquiries Contact:
Editor Matt Driskill at matt.driskill@asianaviation.com
For Advertising Inquiries Contact:
Head of Sales Kay Rolland at kay.rolland@asianaviation.com
