Carry on: Emirates A380 flights, Etihad-Virgin Australia codeshare, Sunshine Coast and more

Danish capital to get first Emirates A380 service
Emirates has chosen Copenhagen as the first Scandinavian capital for a scheduled A380 service. This will occur in December when Emirates changes from a daily Boeing 777 service. And from October, Emirates will go to a double-daily A380 service to Zurich, Switzerland. All A380 services mean New Zealanders travelling on Emirates will have direct connections at Dubai in both directions.

Meanwhile, Emirates is upgrading its services to Beirut, Lebanon, to an all Boeing 777 operation. The Airbus 330-200 currently deployed on one of Beirut’s two daily flights will be upgraded to a larger Boeing 777-200LR from June 1, giving a 12% increase in seat capacity. A second upgrade will be made in January 2016, providing a 53% increase. Emirates is also boosting its capacity to the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles. It will switch from an A330-200 used on one of the two daily flights to a larger Boeing 777-300ER from June 1.

Qantas marks 50th year of Tasman jet travel
Qantas has marked 50 years of jet travel on the transtasman route with a renewed call for easier access. Qantas International chief executive Gareth Evans says New Zealand will remain Australia’s most important tourism market in the foreseeable future.

“Both countries would become more competitive in the global tourism market,” he says. “It would be easier and cheaper for international tourists visiting Australia also to visit New ­Zealand, helping both countries’ tourism balance of trade.’’

Qantas began jet services across the Tasman on April 10, 1965, when a 104-seat Boeing 707 V-jet departed Sydney for Christchurch, signalling the beginning of the end for propeller-driven Lockheed Electra services. About 1.2 million people cross the Tasman each year and Qantas operates some 200 weekly return services.

Etihad-Virgin Australia codeshare expands
Flights to Edinburgh, Scotland, and Madrid, Spain, have been added to Virgin Australia’s codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways. This takes the number of Etihad-operated codeshare destinations for travellers on Virgin Australia’s domestic network to 37. These new codeshare flights will connect through Abu Dhabi and will be operated by A330-200 aircraft with 22 business class seats and 240 economy seats.

Summer Sunshine Coast flights on again
Air New Zealand and transtasman alliance partner Virgin Australia will operate a second seasonal Sunshine Coast service from December 2015 to February 2016. This new season, which comprises three weekly Air New Zealand services between Auckland and Maroochydore, is in addition to the existing winter season from June to October. The new service will be operated by A320 aircraft and represents an 81% increase in seat capacity on the route over the 2014 season.

Virgin America adds Hawaii
Virgin America is adding Hawaii to its network with new daily flights from San Francisco to Honolulu from November 2 and to Kahului from December 3. Permission is still needed from the US Federal Aviation Administration for the long over-water flights using 149-passenger Airbus A320 jets. Virgin America flies to 21 destinations on the US mainland and Mexico, with its biggest markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Routes news of the week
Jetstar Japan has announced the launch of a new Tokyo Narita-Hong Kong route using Airbus A320 aircraft. The first flights from June 1 will initially be three times a week, doubling to six weekly from July 18 and daily from September 1. Air China is increasing its service to Hawaii in July and August. Two more weekly flights will be added to the existing three on the Beijing-Honolulu route from July 13 to August 27. Air China is also adding a new International service from its Hangzhou hub. The three times weekly Hangzhou-Bangkok service, using an A321, will start on June 15. Fiji Airways plans to operate two Nadi-Funafuti (Tuvalu) services next month on May 6 and May 16 using an ATR72. The service usually runs from Suva to Funafuti.