Media Release
5 December 2003
EMIRATES SETS NEW WORLD STANDARDS WITH LATEST
AIRBUS ON AUCKLAND ROUTE
New Zealand travellers can now fly in an aircraft with the world's most advanced passenger features, with the
introduction this week of Emirates' Airbus A340-500 aircraft on the airline's daily Auckland-Sydney-Dubai service.
Emirates is the first airline to operate the A340-500, the world's longest range commercial aircraft.
The four-engined aircraft has 12 first class, 42 business class and 204 economy class seats, all designed for maximum
comfort.
Its innovations include:
· Fully enclosed first class suites, with luxury seats that become flat beds, sliding doors for privacy, meals on call,
a dining table, mini-bar, and built-in vanity table with mirror · An inflight information, communication and
entertainment (ICE) system with more than 500 channels · Revolutionary lighting to help reset body clocks and minimise
jet lag · Personal phones in every seat · Larger than average personal video screens in all classes · Quieter cabins.
The cabin lighting in the Emirates A340-500 is an industry first.
An image of the night sky, complete with twinkling stars, is shown on the ceiling panels above passengers' heads as the
cabin lighting adjusts subtly to the passage of time ? from noonday sunshine to the softer light of afternoon and dusk,
and into a velvety night ? to counter tiring periods of extended daylight caused by crossing time zones.
The sophisticated inflight ICE system will provide customers with the widest choice in the skies, including BBC World
News television updates in flight and the ability to send and receive email and SMS from any seat.
There are 19-inch personal video screens in first class, 15-inch in business class and 9-inch in economy.
Emirates operates daily from Auckland to three cities in Australia ? Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane ? with all services
flying on to Dubai. The award-winning airline now flies to 71 destinations in 50 countries.
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