Qantas and Emirates compete for Kiwis with extra flights

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/>