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March 24 ,Preston(TIE)The Andrews Labor Government is supporting more international flights to return to Melbourne, bringing more visitors to our state and creating more jobs. Emirates – one of the world’s largest international airlines – will double its Dubai to Melbourne service to two daily A380 flights from 1 May, growing its total seats to over 375,000 a year to Victoria.
The extra flights will create about 1000 new jobs in Victoria’s aviation and tourism sectors and help strengthen trade links with major European economies and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Emirates is one of two flag carriers from the UAE – one of Victoria’s largest export destinations with two-way air freight valued at around $144 million in 2021. Melbourne was the airline’s first destination in Australia in 1996.
The airline is the largest A380 operator in the world, with the jet a favourite of the travelling public.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline carried 22 per cent of the 1.3 million passengers that arrived in Victoria from key European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, which added $86 million to the Victorian economy in 2019.
Emirates will join Qantas, Etihad Airways and Bamboo Airways in delivering increased services to Melbourne.
With Australia’s international borders now open, these flight services are vital in supporting the recovery of the tourism sector – an industry with a goal of $35 billion in expenditure supporting 300,000 jobs by 2024.
Victoria’s international aviation sector directly employs 6,700 people and supports thousands of other jobs. Before the pandemic, international flights brought more than 3.1 million visitors to Victoria each year and injected $8.8 billion into the economy.
