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Emirates’ first long-range variant A350-900s have landed in Adelaide, replacing the 777-200LRs on EK440/441 services to Dubai.
The first of the new A350-900ULRs, A6-EXM, touched down at Adelaide Airport on Monday night. Adelaide is the first city in Emirates’ global network to see the aircraft, which features an updated premium economy cabin.
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“This is a landmark moment for Emirates, highlighting Adelaide and South Australia’s vital role in our global operations,” Barry Brown, divisional vice president for Australasia at Emirates, said.
“Adelaide proudly becomes the first Australian city to welcome the Emirates A350. With this, our new and highly acclaimed Premium Economy cabin debuts in Adelaide, completing the cabin’s rollout across all five of Emirates’ Australian gateways.
“While Emirates has been accepting the delivery of A350s for the past year, this is the first delivery of our long-range variant with the range and capability to fly from Dubai to Adelaide.
“Adelaide has been earmarked to receive this new aircraft for some time, underscoring our commitment to the South Australian capital.”
Emirates took delivery of its first A350-900 last year, and the new long-range variant can stay in the air up to 15 hours non-stop. According to Brenton Cox, managing director at Adelaide Airport, the planes will give Adelaide a welcome boost.
“These new longer-range aircraft are a game changer for Adelaide because of their size and range, which are perfectly suited to our market,” he said.
“Emirates has been a strong supporter of ours for more than a decade and this is another show of support for South Australian travellers and visitors to our State.”
State Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison added that the A350’s arrival is a “major aviation development for tourism in South Australia”.
“It makes this flight even more attractive to potential visitors from key global markets, further boosting the more than $62 million that the Emirates’ daily direct non-stop flights generate in tourism expenditure in South Australia each year,” she said.
“It is exciting that Adelaide has been the city chosen by Emirates to debut its new A350 aircraft and demonstrates the airline’s commitment to South Australia and its confidence in tourism and trade in our State.”
Emirates relaunched non-stop flights from Dubai to Adelaide last October after a four-year hiatus. This marked the first time Emirates has served Adelaide since it halted flights in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and the South Australian Tourism Commission expects the route to generate more than $62 million per year for the state’s economy.
