Wellington, July 29 NZPA - Emirates is boosting capacity on its Auckland to Melbourne to Dubai route by using bigger aircraft from August 2

The Airbus A340-500 aircraft currently being used will be replaced by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The change means an extra 672 seats per week being available in each direction.

The same aircraft switch would occur at the end of the year on the Auckland-Brisbane-Dubai route. Emirates' other Auckland service, via Sydney to Dubai, is operated by an Airbus A380 superjumbo.

The Boeing 777-300ER will operate in a three class configuration with eight first class, 42 business class and 304 economy class seats. The aircraft type already operates on Emirates' daily service out of Christchurch.