Perth's Chinatown Gets $2m Revamp

The West Australian government will spend $2 million to revitalise Perth's Chinatown precinct with lanterns and road stencilling.

As part of the revitalisation, Chinese New Year celebrations will be expanded into Chinatown laneways in 2014 with a $50,000 state government grant to the Chung Wah Association.

Premier Colin Barnett said on Sunday the aim was to create a more vibrant precinct for families, locals and tourists.

"Chinatown is a popular location for people of all ages and an important business precinct in Northbridge that has been rundown for some time," he said.

"This investment will transform the area to its former glory of the 1980s and ensure it remains an exciting and culturally important destination for years to come."

The Chinatown precinct is bound by Nicks Lane and Roe and James Streets in Northbridge, and includes 13 restaurants and businesses.

The wider Perth City Link project will create five new connections between the city and Northbridge, which will encourage more people to pass through the Roe Street area every day, the premier said.

The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.

New A380 flights from Perth

New A380 flights from Perth

Emirates the world’s largest international airline, is set to launch A380 super jumbo services to Perth from March 1.

According to Canberra sources the airline has slots approved for the 496-seat A380 to replace one of its tripe daily Boeing 777 services.

The A380 flight is scheduled to arrive at 5.25pm and depart at 10.30pm.

To see a virtual reality view of the A380 click here.

Emirates had planned to operate the A380 from Perth from mid year but delays in the installation and integration of the new aerobridge has put that back to March next year.

However, that A380 was allocated to Brisbane.

While the new service is slated from March 1 it may slip depending on A380 deliveries.

Emirates operates the world’s largest fleet of A380s with 39 in service and the airline had 51 on order.

But this week it ordered another 50 taking the total backlog for the airline to 101.

The Emirates A380 has 14 first class suites, 76 business class beds and a lounge bar on the upper deck and 406 economy class seats on the main deck.

At this week’s order announcement Emirates President Tim Clark said that the A380 “remains highly popular with our passengers.”

“It is still one of the most efficient aircraft to operate today in terms of fuel burn and emissions per passenger, and it gives us the flexibility in some cases to meet passenger demand in slot-constrained markets.”

One of the most popular features of the A380 is the quiet cabin and the plane is more stable than most in turbulence.

The Emirates A380s are mobile phone and email capable and have over 1500 entertainment options.

Emirates has been associated with Europe’s largest passenger aircraft since April 2000 when it was the first airline to announce plans to purchase the super jumbo.

The A380 is a major part of the airline’s ambitious expansion plans outlined by Mr Clark earlier this month.

“By 2020, we will have more than 250 aircraft serving some 70 million passengers across six continents. It will make us the largest airline on the planet by international passenger traffic,” Mr Clark said.

“However, being the biggest airline in the world is not really the end goal. Our aim has always been to connect travellers from around the world to Dubai, and other destinations with just a single stop via our hub.

“The strategic location of Dubai makes it possible for us to serve almost 90 per cent of the world’s population with non-stop flights.”

Over a third of the world’s population lives within a 4-hour flight from Dubai, and two-thirds are within an 8-hour flight.

Today, Emirates operates nearly 3,200 flights globally per week to 135 destinations in 76 countries.

The airline has 50,000 staff made up of 160 nationalities