EMIRATES has celebrated the inauguration of services to Auckland via both Melbourne and Sydney, a total of 14 flights weekly across the Tasman Sea. On 26 October those numbers will increase when the airline launches a new daily service to Brisbane, which will continue on to Auckland. Emirates plans to provide a major boost to the Auckland route by operating the new Airbus A340, non-stop between Dubai and Sydney and onwards to Auckland from December. Currently the flights are operated via Singapore using Boeing 777 equipment. Emirates' Chairman, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, celebrated the launch of the flights by cutting a large cake after the first of two inaugural services, from Sydney and Melbourne, touched down at Auckland International Airport. http://www.emirates.com