EMIRATES: to return to Adelaide in 2024 with debut of A350-900 ?

Reports are emerging that Emirates will return to the Adelaide – Dubai route in mid-2024. Even more excitingly, it is speculated to debut its new Airbus A350-900s on the route.

Emirates ceased flying to Adelaide in 2020 due to the restrictions of the pandemic. As reported by ET, it is in discussions with Adelaide Airport to bring its newest aircraft model to the route.

Emirates Airbus A350-900

Emirates has 50 of these aircraft on order from Airbus, but we don’t know how the airline will configure the cabins. It has not been confirmed whether it will have First Class. The odds are, that it will be a three-class cabin containing Business, Premium and Economy.

The airline is probably looking at a seat count of around 300. Delta has 306 seats on the aircraft over four seat types. Singapore Airlines runs three configurations: Ultra Long Haul at 191, Long Haul at 253 and Medium haul at 303. Lufthansa also runs three configurations averaging around 300 seats. If Emirates includes a First Class cabin, the seat count might be closer to 250.

With its incredible range and fuel economy, the aircraft will have split usage for Emirates – either on high-frequency markets, or lower-demand routes, presuming that, as predicted, it doesn’t have a First Class cabin. Adelaide falls neatly into the lower-demand category.

The President of Emirates, Sir Tim Clark has also offered Darwin as a possible destination

2PAXfly Takeout

New or even renewed routes are always exciting, and putting a new aircraft to work on the route, makes it doubly so.

The introduction of the A350 to the Emirates fleet ushers in a bit of a new era for the airline. It will provide it with a more efficient and nimble long-haul aircraft that can service some less demanding destinations economically. Both Adelaide and Darwin are good examples. Emirates has one of the largest First Class footprints in the sky, so for all or most of these A350s, not having a First Class cabin is a departure for Emirates.

Speculation is that Emirates will use the A350 as an excuse to introduce a new Business Class seat – which if true is exciting. It will join their newly developed Premium Economy seat, which they are aggressively retrofitting to their fleet, and the fully enclosed First Class suites introduced in 2017.

Emirates will also offer high-speed WiFi for the first time using Inmarsat’s GX Aviation Wi-Fi.

‘This should represent a massive improvement to Wi-Fi speeds, compared to Emirates’ current OnAir product, which is among the worst in the industry.’

Ben Schlappig OMAAT

If this revived route to Adelaide happens with new A350s – sign me up for the inaugural fight in mid-2024.