Emirates Seeks Permission to Double SYD,MEL flights
Bloomberg
Emirates Seeks Permission to Double Sydney, Melbourne Flights
By Margreet Dietz
Melbourne, Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Emirates, the largest Arab airline, is seeking approval from the Australian government to double its flights from Dubai to Sydney and Melbourne.
Emirates has daily services between Melbourne and Dubai and will start daily flights between Sydney and Dubai in March. It wants to add an extra daily flight on each route, Eddie Lim, the airline's Australia and New Zealand manager, said in an interview.
"We are asking for double-dailies from Melbourne and Sydney,'' Lim said. "We hope to have talks with the government shortly,'' he said, without being more specific.
The carrier, which also operates four flights a week between Perth and Dubai, is optimistic about traffic between the United Arab Emirates and Australia this year, Lim said. "That is the reason why we still continue with our intended expansion plans into Australia,'' he said.
Emirates has no plan to start domestic flights in Australia, he said. Speculation has been rife that an international carrier such as Emirates or Singapore Airlines Ltd. may set up an Australian unit to challenge Qantas Airways Ltd., which has grabbed nearly 80 percent of the market after the collapse of Ansett Airlines in September 2001.
"We will never start domestic operations here,'' Lim said. "We would rather have more international flights into Australia than get involved in a domestic operation.