Emirates will be back to daily flights to Perth by May 1. The Dubai-based airline is steadily ramping up frequencies into the Western Australia capital after the state recently dropped its quarantine requirements. Emirates will continue to service the route with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Emirates increases frequencies in Perth
Until the end of March, Emirates will make the ten and half hour flight three times a week in both directions, with Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday departures from DXB and Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday departures from PER.
Come April 1, frequencies will tick up to four times a week. Emirates slides in an additional Friday departure from Dubai and an additional Saturday departure from Perth. On May 1, frequencies ramp up to daily.
Out of Dubai, EK420 will push back at 02:45 for a 17:35 landing in Perth later that day. From Perth, EK421 leaves at 22:20 and touches down in Dubai at 05:20 the following day.
A rapid capacity boost for Perth
While admittedly not the flagship A380s, Emirates' 777-300ERs are perfectly nice planes to fly on, with eight first class seats, 42 business class seats, and 304 economy class seats. Indeed, the Emirates Boeing 777 offers one of the few opportunities to fly first class to or from Perth.
"Emirates is excited to increase services to Perth as Western Australia's borders reopen and demand for travel grows by the day," says Emirates' man in Australia, Divisional Vice President Barry Brown. "We have been busy boosting our operations in response to the resumption of travel. As part of our commitment to Australia, we are playing a role in the recovery of its travel industry and facilitating a return to normalcy for our customers to have the freedom to travel again."
It's a fast response from Emirates, given Western Australia only dropped its quarantine regime last weekend. Now, you simply need proof of a full course of an approved COVID-19 vaccination and be prepared to undergo two rapid antigen tests (RATs) within 12 hours after arrival and on day 6. However, that regime is also likely to relax reasonably soon.
A long road back for Perth Airport
In the 12 months before COVID, Perth Airport added more than 500,000 new international seats into the airport and was on track to crack 15 million passengers annually. But that went up in smoke quick smart once borders closed.
"COVID hit, and we lost almost nine million passengers, with international numbers plummeting by 97%," said Perth Airport CEO Kevin Brown. Emirates was one of the few airlines that maintained flights into Perth, albeit with vastly reduced frequencies.
"We have greatly appreciated our international airline partners who have stuck with us over the past two years and who have done the heavy lifting in terms of bringing Australians safely home from overseas," added Mr Brown.
Meanwhile, it isn't just Perth that Emirates is beefing up its services too. Australia's three east coast capitals now see Emirates A380s back at their airports. Sydney is getting A380 double dailies from Dubai, while Melbourne and Brisbane now host a daily Emirates A380 service each. The only missing piece in Emirates' Australian network is the South Australian capital of Adelaide. There is no hard word yet when the airline might reboot its Adelaide flights.