Emirates will axe its popular Sydney-Bangkok-Dubai route from June. As part of Emirates’ latest schedule shake-up, Perth will also lose one of its two daily flights to Dubai at the end of March.
The final Emirates Sydney-Bangkok flight will depart on 1 June 2019. After this, both the Sydney-Bangkok and Bangkok-Dubai legs of EK418 and EK419 will be permanently axed. This will also mean the number of daily Emirates flights from Sydney to Dubai will reduce to three. Meanwhile, Bangkok-Dubai service will be reduced to 5x daily.
Emirates’ Sydney-Bangkok service has been operating for many years and is often a popular choice with Qantas frequent flyers looking to redeem their points, due to good Business and First Class award availability. Until today, this service has been operated daily with an Airbus A380. From tomorrow, the route is slated for a downgrade to a Boeing 777-300ER. It will be operated by the Boeing 777 until the eventual end of the route in early June.
Emirates is also reducing flights between Perth and Dubai, with the cancellation of EK424/425 from 31 March 2019. This is Emirates’ less-popular Boeing 777 service arriving in Perth just after midnight, and returning to Dubai at 6am. This service currently operates daily, but will reduce to 4x weekly from 2 February until the route is eventually cancelled from 30 March 2019.
Not the first recent reduction in Emirates flights to Australia
Emirates previously announced a range of frequency reductions and aircraft downsizes for its Australian flights towards the end of last year.
Emirates’ Sydney-Bangkok flight is the fourth Emirates fifth-freedom route out of Australia to be axed in just over a year. All of Emirates’ previous trans-Tasman A380 services between Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland were ended in March 2018. Emirates still flies from Melbourne and Brisbane to Singapore, as well as Sydney to Christchurch.
Thai Airways also cut flights on the Sydney-Bangkok route in October last year.
What to do if your Emirates flight has been cancelled
If you’re booked on one of the Emirates flights that has been axed, you’ll be contacted in the coming days with alternative flight arrangements. In general, passengers flying from Perth to Dubai are being re-booked on the other daily Emirates flight. Passengers booked on the Sydney-Bangkok route are being re-booked on Qantas.
If you booked through Qantas, you’ll need to wait to receive an email from Qantas advising of the schedule change.
Both agents told me the same thing…. To wait until Qantas have organised an alternative, and if you are unhappy with it, then to ring and see what the options are. The second agent told me they have been instructed NOT to rebook anyone at this stage.
If you’re not satisfied with the alternative flights offered, you can then (and only then) contact the airline to request different flights or a refund.
Just received an email from Qantas saying that some changes have been made to my booking, and that I should ring Qantas at my earliest convenience. I was booked onto QF23 the following day – so about 20hrs layover in Sydney – YAY…
Rang Qantas and was told that they had received instructions not to re-book anyone, but I told them about the email I received, and have now been re-booked on the date that I originally wanted.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: EK Cuts Flights to PER and SYD in Early/Mid 2019
