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Emirates will begin services directly between Dubai and NZ bypassing Melbourne and Brisbane, and Qantas will run additional services between Australia and NZ, as part of a changes to their partnership agreement. In what appears to be an increase in competition between the two, Emirates will retain its existing daily A380 flights from Dubai to Christchurch via Sydney, but said Wednesday it would also evaluate potential new direct services between NZ and Dubai. The new agreement will see Qantas adding seven new return flights per week between Melbourne and Auckland and an extra two return services per week between Brisbane and Auckland. The new agreement, which needs to be signed off by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, includes a major overhaul of routes that were part of the initial five-year Qantas-Emirates partnership agreement. <br/>

Qantas is raising A$350m from a loan that allows it to switch the types of aircraft used as collateral, in what bankers and analysts said is the world's first aviation financing of this type. The loan is the first of a series under a loan facility program set up by the airline. The security for each loan includes a pool of Qantas planes that have not been pledged as collateral, including Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 narrowbodies as well as A330 and 787 widebodies. "It also gives us more flexibility in terms of what aircraft are encumbered, allowing us to change the aircraft depending on possible fleet changes or future plans," a Qantas spokesman said. <br/>