Dubai-based Emirates Airline will commence a fourth daily flight from Dubai to Sydney in March 2018.

This follows the decision made in late August by Australia’s Qantas to route its daily Sydney to London flight through Singapore rather than Dubai.

Emirates said an A380 aircraft will be utilised for its fourth daily Dubai to Sydney flight.

An A380’s capacity of 486 seats means the total seat capacity for inbound and outbound flights on the route will increase by 6,486 seats a week, a rise of 7.3 per cent on the current capacity.

The new service will help meet demand for services to Dubai and complement Qantas’ re-routing of its current Sydney to London service through Singapore instead of Dubai, Emirates said in a statement.

The new service will offer passengers an afternoon departure from Sydney and a morning arrival in main European cities the following day, or a morning departure and an afternoon arrival the following day on the opposite direction.

These developments follow the five-year extension of the partnership between Emirates and Qantas.

The original deal signed in 2012 involved Qantas shifting its European hub from Singapore to Dubai and Qantas gaining exclusive landing rights to Emirates’ Terminal 3 at Dubai International airport.