Christchurch Airport marks the tenth anniversary of the Emirates service which expanded South Islanders’ access to the world

Christchurch, New Zealand, 2014-7-10 — /Travel PR News/ — Christchurch Airport is today celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Emirates service which has expanded South Islanders’ access to the world.

Chief Executive Malcolm Johns says the Emirates service is very popular and valuable to southern globetrotters.

“Publicly available statistics show Emirates has the highest load factors on the Tasman into Christchurch,” says Mr Johns.  “Over the past decade, Emirates has carried almost 1.5 million people on the service and still enjoys very high demand into and out of this airport.

“Based on conservative estimates, the Emirates service has contributed more than $1.2bn of visitor spend over the past 10 years, so there is no doubt about the value of its service to Christchurch, Canterbury and the South Island. The daily flights bring visitors from a number of destinations worldwide to the South Island, as well as taking South Islanders to explore the world and transporting some of our best produce to foreign markets.”

Emirates flies daily out of Christchurch Airport, to Sydney, Bangkok and Dubai, with connections to 143 cities from there, so is very popular for South Islanders travelling to the Middle East, Europe, the UK and beyond.

“Ten years ago, the service began through Melbourne with an A340-500 aircraft seating up to 270 passengers.  Not long after, the aircraft was routed through Sydney.  Today the larger B777-300ER operates on the route, offering a significant opportunity to transport cargo to and from Canterbury and the South Island,” says Mr Johns.

He says Christchurch Airport is New Zealand’s alternate arrival point for the Emirates A380 aircraft, as demonstrated a year ago when two landed here.

“The airport community was very excited when it learned the two A380s were flying here,” he says.  “There were lots of people around the airport to see and photograph the two spectacular aircraft arrive here.

“This truly is a birthday worth celebrating and we look forward to celebrating many more with Emirates, as a valued and committed airline partner,” he says.

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