Emirates welcomed its 20th Airbus A380 to its expanding fleet by announcing Melbourne and Tokyo as two new destinations for its flagship aircraft in 2012.

Melbourne joined the Emirates network in 1996 and the airline now operates three daily flights from Dubai, one non-stop, one via Singapore and the other via Kuala Lumpur.

The A380 will operate as EK406, the non-stop flight from Dubai to Melbourne and on to Auckland from October 1.

Melbourne’s A380 service will be Emirates’ second A380 operation in Australia and New Zealand, following the introduction of the aircraft on the Dubai-Sydney-Auckland route in 2009.

Emirates is celebrating its 10th year of services between Dubai and Japan this year, and its third year of operating to Narita International Airport. Demand on the Dubai–Tokyo route has continued to grow, prompting the need for the daily service to be operated by an A380 from July 1.

Emirates’ A380 service to Tokyo will operate as EK 318 departing Dubai at 2.50 a.m. and arriving at Narita International Airport at 5.35 p.m. the same day. The return flight of EK 319 departs Narita at 10 p.m. and touches down in Dubai at 4.15 a.m. the following day.

“The announcement of enhanced services into Melbourne and Tokyo comes as we introduce flights from Dubai to Dublin, our 29th European destination, and Dubai to Buenos Aires, via Rio de Janeiro, our latest South American destinations,” said Emirates’ Richard Jewsbury. Emirates took delivery of its first A380 in July 2008 and the number of A380 destinations on the Emirates network reached 17 on January 1 with the addition of Kuala Lumpur.

Emirates operates flights on a daily schedule from Malta to Dubai via Larnaka, Cyprus.