Emirates has introduced its first flight into the South Australian capital of Adelaide, marking the start of the four times weekly service and the fifth gateway for Emirates in Australia.

Emirates flight EK440 will depart Dubai every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday arriving in Adelaide at 20:50 with the return flight leaving at 22:35.

Emirates has 112 scheduled flights a week between the UK and Dubai with excellent connection times making it possible to fly to South Australia in as little as 21 hours.

The flights will operate on the three-class Boeing 777-300ER offering Private Suites in the only First Class international service for South Australian travellers, lie-flat massage beds in Business Class and spacious seating in Economy Class.

Passengers in all classes can enjoy Emirates’ award-winning ‘ice’ Digital Widescreen, the industry’s most sophisticated video and audio system, offering over 1,400 channels of on-demand entertainment - the largest selection of programming in the sky.

Laurie Berryman, Emirates’ vice president UK said: “Adelaide is the gateway into South Australia and Emirates is proud to include this fifth Australian destination into our expanding network portfolio.

“We expect to carry more than 200,000 passengers per year into Adelaide and anticipate that travellers from the UK will make up a significant portion of network wide traffic.

“We predict demand will come predominantly from the leisure sector, followed by the Visiting Friends and Family market reflecting the large UK diaspora based in Adelaide and finally by business travellers.

“With services from Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow, our new service will become the most direct route from the UK to Adelaide.”

The service is due to increase to daily flights from 1st February, adding nearly 5,000 international seats per week on the route, representing a 26 per cent increase for the market, which will help boost jobs and investment in South Australia’s AUS$ 5.3 billion tourism sector.

Adelaide is ideally situated to explore such landmarks as the famous wine producing region of the Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island, considered Australia’s fourth icon.

Emirates currently operates 74 flights per week to Australia via its Dubai hub: 21 services to Sydney; 21 to Melbourne; 14 to Brisbane; 14 to Perth; and four to Adelaide.