Qantas Network Now Open for Emirates Passengers

Emirates and Qantas partnership

 Emirates’ customers can now begin enjoying the benefits of what the Emirates and Qantas partnership has to offer, following the opening up of bookings to a number of Qantas domestic destinations, with travel from 31st March 2013.

The partnership gained interim authorisation from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on 17th January for the proposed Emirates and Qantas partnership. The partnership remains subject to final regulatory approval in relevant jurisdictions.

Emirates customers can now choose from 32 Australian destinations that Qantas operates to including Canberra, Port Lincoln, Cairns and Hobart, opening up Australia to passengers from all over the ever expanding Emirates network.

From 31st March, Emirates’ Skywards members will also be able to earn Skywards Miles on Qantas international flights and domestic flights that are part of a continuous international journey with Emirates or Qantas.

Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to earn points on all Emirates flights.

“With 12 daily flights between Dubai and five Australian cities, Australia is a very strong market for Emirates and our customers are looking forward to taking advantage of the benefits the Emirates and Qantas partnership has to offer. When we first began the planning of this partnership it was always driven by what extra we are able to offer our customers,” said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide.

“We are also looking forward to welcoming Qantas passengers on board our aircraft after opening up our ever expanding network in Europe, Middle East and Africa for sale to Qantas customers,” added Mr Antinori.

Following the grant of interim approval, Emirates and Qantas are finalising other details of their partnership, including joint pricing, schedules and additional frequent flyer benefits.

Emirates customers can book their flights for travel from 31st March 2013 to the wider Qantas network on emirates.com or through their travel agents.

Photo Captions:
EKQF01: Emirates customers can now choose from 32 Australian destinations that Qantas operate to including Canberra, Alice Springs, Darwin and Hobart, opening up the whole of Australia to passengers from all over the ever expanding Emirates network. (Image of the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns).

EKQF02: Emirates’ customers can now begin enjoying the benefits of what the Emirates and Qantas partnership has to offer, following the opening up of bookings to a number of Qantas domestic destinations, with travel from 31st March 2013.

Emirates is a full-service international airline that prides itself on inflight service delivered by an international crew drawn from over 130 nationalities; menus designed by leading chefs and complemented by the finest wines; an award-winning inflight entertainment system with up to 1,400 channels; and generous luggage allowances in all Classes. Emirates Airline has received more than 500 international awards for excellence.

Its fleet of 195 wide-bodied aircraft includes eight freighters and is among the youngest in the skies, with an average age of less than 80 months. The airline continuously replaces old aircraft with newer ones and has frequently been the first to sign up for new developments in aviation design and technology. Emirates has orders for an additional 209 aircraft, worth more than USD$84 billion.

Emirates’ global network now features services to 128 destinations in 74 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, North America, South America, and the Asia-Pacific.

In 2012, Emirates increased its European network to 31 destinations, with new services operating to Dublin (January 2012), Barcelona (3rd July 2012) and Lisbon (9th July 2012). Lyon joined the network in December and Warsaw will bring the European network to 33 destinations from 6th February 2013.

Emirates currently operates 74 flights per week to Dubai from Australia – from Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. One service daily from Sydney operates via Bangkok. One service daily from Brisbane operates via Singapore. One Melbourne service daily operates via Singapore, with another daily service operating via Kuala Lumpur. Four weekly flights service Adelaide, rising to a daily service from 1st February 2013.

Emirates operates 28 flights per week to New Zealand – daily to Christchurch from Sydney, and daily to Auckland from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Emirates has one of the world’s most generous baggage policies. Economy Class customers can check in 30 kg, Business Class travellers 40 kg and First Class passengers can travel with 50 kg of checked baggage.

For flight information and bookings contact Emirates on 1300 303 777, visit your local travel agent or go to www.emirates.com/au.