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It’s easy to forget that the fallout the airline industry felt from the coronavirus pandemic is, to some degree, still with us, but the fact is that a significant number of routes that were operating before the pandemic have not yet been restarted, so it’s always nice to hear when one such route returns.
This week, it’s the turn of Emirates to tell us that one of its remaining pre-pandemic routes that hasn’t operated since 2019 will be returning to its schedules later in the year.
Adelaide gets back its Emirates flights
Emirates says that by the time 1 December comes along, it will be able to offer 77 weekly services between Dubai and Australia, and that’s a statement that the airline hasn’t been able to make in almost five years.
1 December 2024 is when the airline relaunches its service to Perth, but the return of the Pert route is now old news. The news today is that Emirates will return to Adelaide in October.
Specifically, from 28 October 2024, Emirates will offer a daily service between Dubai and Adelaide on the following schedule:
EK440 DXB 02:00 – 20:50 ADL (Daily)
EK441 ADL 22:35 – 05:15+1 day DXB (Daily)
The route will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 777-200LR aircraft which feature just 2 cabins with 38 Business Class seats and 264 Economy Class seats.
The premium cabin on this long-range 777 offers passengers one of the airline’s newest Business Class seats, but as you can see from the image above, these seats still don’t offer all passengers direct access to an aisle.
The 2-2-2 cabin layout in this cabin means that passengers seated by the aircraft windows will have to negotiate their way past the person in the seat next to them should they wish to get up and stretch their legs.
Given that there won’t be much to see out of the windows for almost all the flight, the best seats to choose in this cabin are the seats in the center of the aircraft, and that advice applies whether you’re a solo traveler or traveling as a pair.
Is this a direct response from Qatar Airways?
This may just be a coincidence, but within 24 hours of Emirates announcing its return to Adelaide in October, Qatar Airways changed the aircraft that it will use on its Doha – Adelaide route this Northern Hemisphere summer.
Between 1 June and 30 August 2024, Qatar Airways will operate a 777 aircraft offering 354 seats instead of a A350 aircraft with 283 seats on the Doha – Adelaide route, and while the A350 returns for September and most of October, the 777 is scheduled to retake the route from 27 October onwards.
Is Qatar Airways using the Northern Hemisphere summer months to see how well the 777 can perform on this route?
This is the Qatar Airways Adelaide schedule from 27 October 2024:
QR914 DOH 20:40 – 17:05+1 day ADL (Daily)
QR915 ADL 22:00 – 04:05+1 day DOH (Daily)
Crucially, while the Emirates 777 that will operate to Adelaide will offer an old-style Business Class cabin layout, the Qatar Airways 777 currently scheduled to operate between Doha and Adelaide will offer the airline’s most popular Business Class cabin – the Qsuite cabin.
Not only will Qatar Airways offer slightly more Business Class seats that Emirates on its flights to Adelaide (42 v 38), but it will also offer a considerably better cabin.
If you’re flying to or from Dubai, this probably won’t make any difference to you, but if you’re simply going to be using the Gulf Region as a stopover on your way to/from Adelaide and you’re flying in Business Class, it looks like Qatar Airways will be offering a more premium experience*.
*Airlines swap the aircraft that operate their routes on a frequent basis so while it’s likely that Qatar Airways will operate the Qsuites to Adelaide, it’s not guaranteed.
Bottom line
from 28 October, Emirates will finally bring back the Dubai – Adelaide service which hasn’t operated since the coronavirus pandemic brought chaos to the airline industry. The aircraft operating the route will be a 777-200LR which will offer Business Class and Economy Class cabins, but be aware that the Business Class cabin on sale will not offer the most modern of layouts.
Featured image is an Emirates 777-300ER
