Tag Archives: Melbourne

Emirates will introduce an additional Premium Economy service between Melbourne and Dubai, available from the 1 February 2024 on EK408 and EK409. The additional service follows the debut of Emirates’ Premium Economy service from Melbourne in April 2023, when the new cabin was made available on the daily EK406 and EK407 services. This latest development means Emirates now offers close to 800 weekly Premium Economy seats between Melbourne and its Dubai hub. The Premium Economy cabin offers a signature experience unmatched in the industry, offering plush cream leather seats and a wood veneer, a generous baggage allowance and an exceptional dining experience, staffed by a team of Cabin Crew dedicated to Premium Economy passengers. The added Premium Economy service means that the airline will be serving Australia with close to 3200 seats, including two daily services from Sydney and two daily services from Melbourne, maintaining Australia’s position as one of the key markets served with the airline’s best-in-class Premium Economy cabins. Since tickets for the Emirates Premium Economy service went on sale in Sydney in August 2022 and in Melbourne in April 2023, the new cabin class has exceeded expectations and forecasts with more than 90,000 passengers flying to and from Australia opting for the new cabin experience. Premium Economy seats from Sydney and Melbourne have averaged over 80 per cent load factors and the airline continues to anticipate consistently high demand for the new cabin class in Melbourne as consumer confidence and travel demand continue to accelerate in the new year. Barry Brown, Divisional Vice President Australasia at Emirates, says “As one of the most important markets in our global network, we are committed to offering Australians not only greater connectivity but also more …

Emirates announced plans to debut its newly retrofitted A380s featuring its latest Premium Economy cabins to five new cities from December – New York JFK, San Francisco, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore. The airline will also add more Premium Economy seats on services to London Heathrow and Sydney, as its newly enhanced aircraft sporting refreshed cabins roll into scheduled service. The airline aims to offer customers more opportunities to experience its highly acclaimed Premium Economy product, and its latest deployment plans will also see 85 A380s back in the sky by December, well-timed to serve the year-end travel demand. Emirates’ enhanced A380s with Premium Economy to New York JFK, San Francisco, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore will operate as follows: To New York JFK, Emirates will operate with its newly retrofitted A380 on EK203 and EK 204, starting from 1 December. To Auckland, Emirates will debut its Premium Economy cabin on EK 448 and EK 449, starting 15 January 2023. From 1 February 2023, Melbourne will become the second Australian destination to be served with the signature Emirates A380 featuring Premium Economy. Services will be deployed on EK 406 and EK 407. San Francisco will become the second US destination to be served by the retrofitted A380 with refreshed interiors on EK 225 and EK 226, starting on 15 February 2023. Emirates’ enhanced A380 with Premium Economy will land in Singapore for the first time on 1 March 2023, operating as EK 354 and EK 355. Emirates will also update its schedules to London Heathrow, Sydney and New York JFK with its retrofitted A380 aircraft operating on the following services: From 15 December 2022, Sydney will become the first city in the …

The State Government of Victoria is celebrating 20 years of trade and tourism ties with the Middle East region. The Australian state set up its Victorian Government Business Office (VGBO) in 1997 to forge and strengthen trade and investment ties with the region, which two decades later has seen Victoria’s annual exports to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grow to AUD$ 2.49 billion (US$ 1.85 billion). Tourism and aviation links between Victoria and the region have also multiplied over the years, with Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways all flying daily to Melbourne. Emirates Airline has had a long-term relationship with Melbourne, having sponsored the famous Collingwood Football Club and the Emirates Melbourne Cup, the flagships among a portfolio of key partnerships in the state. Etihad Airways also has a strong connection with Melbourne, which is home to Australia’s Etihad Stadium, and has seen the UAE’s national carrier become the lead sponsor of Melbourne City Football Club.

Action Hotels, developer and asset manager of branded three- and four-star hotels in the Middle East and Australia, has selected Novotel as the brand partner for its new hotel, Novotel Melbourne South Wharf located at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The property marks Action Hotel’s fourth hotel in Australia and the third in Melbourne. It is pegged to open Q1 2018 with 347 rooms, 30 more rooms than originally announced, making it the second largest hotel in Action’s portfolio. Action’s total operating rooms and development pipeline now stands as 3,214 rooms. Action has built a long-term strategic relationship with AccorHotels and the Novotel Melbourne South Wharf is the 13th hotel together – nine are operating – and it is the second Novotel-branded hotel for Action. Novotel is one of AccorHotels’ midscale brands, comprising 480 hotels and resorts across 59 countries. Sheikh Mubarak A. M. Al Sabah, Founder and Chairman of Action Hotels said he is delighted to be partnering with AccorHotels once again. “The Novotel Melbourne South Wharf, which is ideally located to service the largest convention centre in the Southern hemisphere. We are very excited about this addition to our Australian portfolio and the potential of this hotel which will offer premium midscale accommodation with best-in-class customer service and quality in a highly sought-after business and leisure destination,” he said.

Emirates will provide an all-A380 service from Melbourne when it upgrades its third daily flight from the Australian city, EK408 and EK409, from a Boeing 777-300ER to an A380 operation. The move will add 945 seats per week to the Australian city from March 25, 2018, representing a 10 per cent increase in capacity. Emirates customers can enjoy a seamless “A380 to A380” connections via its hub in Dubai to 18 points in the UK and Europe. The additional weekly seats on the route will support more business and leisure travel between Dubai and Melbourne and together with Qantas’ new Melbourne, via Perth, London B789 Dreamliner service beginning on the 24th March 2018, offers customers more options to London and Europe under the joint partnership. The popular Emirates A380 offers 489 seats in a three-class cabin configuration with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 399 spacious seats in Economy. Passengers in all classes can enjoy over 2,500 channels of the latest films, TV shows, music, and games on Emirates’ ice Digital Widescreen, which has been named World’s Best Inflight Entertainment at the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards for a record 12 years running. First and Business Class passengers on the Emirates A380 can spend time during their flight socialising in the iconic Onboard Lounge on the upper deck of the aircraft, and First Class passengers can enjoy the exclusive use of the on-board shower spas to refresh during flights. Premium customers are also offered complimentary chauffeur drive to and from Melbourne airport, lounge access and priority check-in.

Action Hotels, the owner, developer and asset manager of branded three and four-star hotels in the Middle East and Australia, has announced that it has secured a long-term, 92-year lease on a plot of land at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for the development of a new four-star hotel.  The new hotel, which is expected to open in Q1 2018, will comprise 317 rooms and 14 apartments, making it the second largest hotel in Action’s portfolio. The hotel will be Action’s fourth property in Australia and third in Melbourne. The approximate total project cost is $69 million, which Action will fund partially through a new debt facility for the project and partially through existing resources. The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is the largest convention centre in the Southern hemisphere and currently accommodates over 5,500 delegates, last year hosting 1,030 events and attracting over 680,000 attendees.