The conversion of Emirates flight to Adelaide from four weekly frequencies to a daily service is considered as a major boost by the local tourism industry. Especially as 44% of all international arrivals come from Europe.
ADELAIDE- South Australia’s tourism industry received another boost on February 1st as Emirates Airlines increased the total number of its flights from Dubai to Adelaide to a daily frequency.
The increased volume of flights comes just three months after Emirates commenced its four day-a-week service to Adelaide. The increased services will see an additional 1,062 seats added to the Emirates schedule each week, resulting in more than 100,000 Emirates customers visiting South Australia each year.
Minister for Tourism Leon Bignell said the introduction of daily Emirates flights to Adelaide would continue to boost South Australia’s profile as an international tourism destination.
“This welcome increase demonstrates Emirates’ confidence in the future of the South Australian tourism industry,” Mr Bignell said.
“These extra services give us more opportunity to showcase what our fantastic part of the world has to offer.”
Mr Bignell said the daily flights were expected to generate about $40 million in direct expenditure and more than 200 jobs a year during the next two years. “South Australia will now be even more accessible to our international tourism markets,” Mr Bignell said.
“We will continue to work with Emirates and Tourism Australia to promote South Australia, with a particular focus on attracting businesspeople and visitors from the UK, Germany, France and Italy.”
The European market is vital to the South Australian tourism industry, with 44 per cent of international travellers coming from Europe in the year ending September 2012. On average these visitors stayed for more than 16 nights in South Australia and injected $160 million into the economy.
Emirates Vice President Australasia Barry Brown said South Australia had been receptive to the airline’s introduction to Adelaide, allowing one-stop connectivity to 33 European cities and more than 125 worldwide destinations.
“The response since our commencement in South Australia has been overwhelming, with our Economy cabin at full capacity on most inbound and outbound flights, and current load factors averaging between 85 and 90 per cent throughout December and January,” Mr Brown said.
Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL) Managing Director Mark Young welcomed the first of Emirates’ daily services and said the additional services would open up more connections throughout Europe and the Middle East.
“The combination of Emirates utilising the 354-seat Boeing 777-300ERs – the largest passenger aircraft to fly to and from Adelaide on a regular basis – and the excellent connections through Dubai have made this a popular service,” Mr Young said.
“International services to and from Adelaide have recorded double digit growth in the past couple of years. We were the fastest growing international capital city airport in Australia in 2012, and these additional Emirates services take us to 48 international flights a week.”
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
