The Emirates A380 contains private suites and a fully-equipped onboard shower spa for first class passengers.

Emirates has announced it will fly the world's largest passenger aircraft, the double-decker A380, to and from Christchurch.

The airline will be the first to offer regular scheduled services in the A380 out of Christchurch. The daily service will fly to Dubai via Sydney from October 30.

Flight EK413 will depart Christchurch at 6.45pm, touching down in Dubai 5.15am the next day.

The return flight, EK412, will depart Dubai at 10.15am, arriving in Christchurch at 1.50pm the next day.

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House of Travel marketing director Ken Freer said the new flights would create a faster, more convenient path to Europe for South Islanders.

Emirates' current flight to Dubai from Christchurch, in the Boeing 777-300ER, required stopovers in both Sydney and Bangkok, but the new route would allow South Islanders to travel direct from Sydney to Dubai, cutting out the hassle of a second stopover, he said.

The route was expected to reduce overall flight time to Europe by around two hours in each direction.

Christchurch Airport chief aeronautical and commercial officer Justin Watson said the airport was seeing record international visitor arrival growth and the A380 would help to grow this further.

The airport was working on a suitable welcome for the first A380, he said.

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Emirates' launch of the Christchurch A380 flights will coincide with the introduction of the A380 on its daily non-stop route between Auckland and Dubai.

All daily A380 flights provide connections in Dubai with direct Emirates flights to and from 39 destinations in Europe, as well as a number of cities in Africa and the Middle East.

The luxurious aircraft contains private suites and a fully-equipped onboard shower spa for first class passengers.

Earlier this year, Emirates released the world's first 360-video tour of the A380 cockpit featuring Kiwi pilot, Thomas Ziarno.

To watch the 360-video experience, move your mobile device or navigate with your touchscreen. If you are using a desktop, click and drag the video to view from any angle.