Emirates A380 Finally Returning To US Airports!

Emirates A380 Finally Returning To US Airports!

31

After a lengthy hiatus, it looks like Emirates will finally be resuming A380 flights to the United States in a few weeks.

Emirates will fly A380 to JFK as of June 1

With Emirates’ latest schedule update, the Dubai-based airline will be flying the A380 to New York once again as of June 1, 2021. Specifically, the airline will be using the A380 for the following frequency:

EK201 Dubai to New York JFK departing 8:30AM arriving 2:25PM
EK202 New York JFK to Dubai departing 11:00PM arriving 7:45PM (+1 day)

It’s worth noting that up until recently Emirates’ schedule showed the A380 resuming New York flights as of July 1, so the timeline has been pushed forward by a month.

As of June 1, Emirates will operate a total of 4x daily flights to the New York area:

  • The airline will operate two daily nonstop Dubai to New York flights, with one operated by the 777-300ER and the other operated by the A380
  • The airline will operate one daily nonstop Athens to Newark flight with a 777-300ER
  • The airline will operate one daily nonstop Milan to New York flight with a 777-300ER

The Emirates A380 will return to JFK as of June 1

Emirates A380 returns to LAX & IAD

While it’s anyone’s guess if the schedule sticks (I wouldn’t count on it quite as much), Emirates shows two other US destinations getting the A380 as of this summer.

As of July 1, 2021, Emirates is scheduled to fly an A380 daily between Dubai and Los Angeles, with the following schedule:

EK215 Dubai to Los Angeles departing 8:55AM arriving 2:15PM
EK216 Los Angeles to Dubai departing 4:40PM arriving 7:30PM (+1 day)

As of July 1, 2021, Emirates is scheduled to fly an A380 daily between Dubai and Washington Dulles, with the following schedule:

EK231 Dubai to Washington Dulles departing 2:20AM arriving 8:40AM
EK232 Washington Dulles to Dubai departing 10:55AM arriving 8:05AM (+1 day)

Los Angeles & Washington will see A380 upgrades as well

What’s the big deal with the A380?

Emirates’ fleet consists exclusively of A380s and 777s. Around the start of the pandemic the airline grounded most of its A380 fleet, given the lack of demand for travel (the airline also laid off most of its A380 pilots). Those planes are slowly reentering service, though it will be a while until they’re all flying again.

On balance, the A380 is a much more pleasant ride in first class, business class, and economy class:

  • In first class, the Emirates A380 features inflight showers, which is one of the coolest features you’ll find on any plane
  • In business class, the Emirates A380 features staggered seats with direct aisle access and an onboard bar; the 777 doesn’t have a bar, and seats are in a 2-3-2 configuration
  • In economy class, the Emirates A380 cabin is more spacious than on the 777 — both airplanes have 10 seats per row, but the A380’s cabin is wider

Emirates’ A380 business class

Unfortunately the way that Emirates is adding back A380 service on US routes might turn out to be a negative development for some passengers. The planned Dubai to New York A380 flight is on a frequency that was previously operated by Emirates’ 777 with the new 777 first class product. This was the only US route to ever regularly get Emirates’ new first class.

Emirates may stop offering its new first class to the US

In first class I’d say this represents a significant product downgrade, at least if you’re traveling alone and/or don’t care that much about the shower.

Shower suites are exclusively available on Emirates A380s

It remains to be seen if Emirates will fly the 777 with new first class to another US airport, or if it will fly to another country. I don’t see any additional routes scheduled to get a reconfigured 777 as of early June, though I could be missing something.

Bottom line

Emirates will finally be resuming A380 service to the United States this summer, as the airline will fly A380s to New York as of June 1, and then A380s to Los Angeles and Washington as of July 1.

I’d feel comfortable about the timeline for New York almost certainly sticking, while I’d be less certain about the Los Angeles and Washington timeline. The fact that Emirates will be back to offering four daily flights to the New York area as of June is pretty impressive.

Are you excited to see Emirates bring A380s back to the US? Anyone know where the 777 with new first class is going instead?

Conversations (31)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. Solo Guest

    It is clear that Emirates has not resumed A380 from IAD yet. They are still operating 777 from IAD at least till Mid December. Anyone else has insight when A380 will be resumed from IAD Washington Dulles.

  2. OPR Guest

    If you have withdrawal symptoms...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_RanL6ExRo

  3. Lisa Guest

    Love flying with Emirates. Any where around the woeld i want to travel i will fly Emirates.
    THANK YOU for the hard work.

  4. Rav New Member

    Is the bar open yet???

  5. Danny Guest

    @ben

    Is emirates currently flying the new 777 first class from JFK until the change?

  6. Joe Guest

    @Grant

    For JAL and Qantas it remains possible.

  7. Sam New Member

    @Grant
    Yes this is the case

  8. Grant Guest

    I just read:

    "As of April 1, 2021, Emirates no longer allows its first class awards to be booked with partner miles (like JAL, Alaska, Qantas, or Korean Air)."

    True?

  9. Robert Guest

    I am booked on the new 777 First from DXB-NRT on 9/3, assuming the aircraft doesn’t change.

  10. Kamaaina Guest

    @Ben I've never tried it, but I'll take your word for it.

  11. Joey Diamond

    Wow! Ok I had to look up what bukkake meant, Ben.
    How many glasses of Krug or Don have you had?!? I hope you’re ok.

  12. Quo Vadis? Diamond

    @Lucky, you're either being unusually candid or you're being spoofed.

    1. Ben OMAAT

      Sorry folks, someone thought it would be cute to try and make trash comments look like they were coming from me this evening. Should be dealt with now!

  13. Fcflyer New Member

    @grant

    Full food and beverage service. Flew F in March

  14. MJS Guest

    I'm flying BOS-DXB, DXB-JNB later this summer, and I also did part of the planning so that I would have business class on the A380. Can't wait to fly in that thing.

  15. Kevin Guest

    Despite all the tacky bling on Emirates A380 F, I have to say their F in flight hard product experience in terms of seat comfort/ design and shower surpasses CX, BA, JL, QF, AF, SQ, KE, and EY imo. I hope to try their 777 someday.

  16. Icarus Guest

    The new midfield concourse at LAX has added another 6 a380 gates, bringing the total to 15. A pity as there were multiple carriers using them pre-Covid

  17. Andrew New Member

    Going to miss it by one day, but hopeful that they will still have the new first class on May 31st flight!

  18. Paul Guest

    Emirates reservations shows it will be flying the A380 out of SFO by this fall.

  19. Chauney Guest

    Just booked LAX-DXB, DXB-MLE in biz yesterday for early 2022. Positioning the trip origin out of LAX (instead of ORD which is closer) specifically because it showed an A380 on the schedule. Gotta cross an Emirates A380 off the list.

  20. Saeed Guest

    British Airways will fly the A380 to Dubai effective August 1st.

  21. Michael Chill Guest

    I think they stopped flying the newer version of the 777-300. If you look at setting chart it is the older versions.

  22. Ryan Guest

    Negative developments for a snooty jerks who think A380 Emirates first clas ain’t good enough. What a world we live in.

  23. Grant Guest

    What level of in-flight service (food and beverage, including alcohol) is Emirates providing in First Class and Business Class these days, as opposed to pre-pandemic?

  24. MichaelF New Member

    ok - I am not trying to be snarky - but how many people pay US$20k so that they can shower in an airplane? I know their F is popular with bloggers and upgrades.... but is there really a demand for that kind of service?

    who am I kidding - between LAX/IAD and DUB, I am sure they can sell F at twice the price and still fill....

  25. Jan Guest

    Nice. I saw this a couple of days back. Question about Emirates’ health insurance - would that still be valid even if UAE is on a Do Not Travel / Lv4 alert? I want to fly J on the upper deck.

  26. Peter Diamond

    It's funny at JFK T4 right now - very telling about which countries are advertised as "open" at the moment. I had no line at all for my KLM flight. I also saw there was no line whatsoever for the Swiss, Singapore, or VS flights that I walked past and were open for check-in. Emirates meanwhile had a full queue with easily 200+ people.

  27. Dan Guest

    British Airways will send its first A380 back into service on July 1, 2021 to Miami.

  28. MKLDH Gold

    Ah... I was just trying to book that JFK flight as I haven't flown the new 777 first class before. Really hope they can at least bring it to another US destination.

  29. Mike Harrell Guest

    Would love the the A380 or the new first class to fly to ORD!

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Solo Guest

It is clear that Emirates has not resumed A380 from IAD yet. They are still operating 777 from IAD at least till Mid December. Anyone else has insight when A380 will be resumed from IAD Washington Dulles.

0
OPR Guest

If you have withdrawal symptoms... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_RanL6ExRo

0
Lisa Guest

Love flying with Emirates. Any where around the woeld i want to travel i will fly Emirates. THANK YOU for the hard work.

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published