The gorgeous Emirates A380 will start flying again in a few weeks!
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Emirates resumes A380 flights on July 15
Emirates suspended all operations in late March, as the UAE essentially banned commercial flights. The airline has ever-so-slowly resumed flights as of April, starting with quasi repatriation flights, and then the airline progressively increased destinations, all the way up to 40 cities.
However, up until now Emirates has exclusively been operating Boeing 777s on all routes. That will be changing.
As of July 15, 2020, Emirates intends to bring the A380 back into service, flying initially to London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle. Looking at the schedule, A380s will initially operate one of two daily flights to each of the airports.
The iconic Emirates @Airbus A380 will return to the skies with flights to London Heathrow and Paris starting from 15 July.#FlyEmiratesFlyBetter pic.twitter.com/ye9EmuBuY1
— Emirates (@emirates) June 23, 2020
It’s not entirely clear if this is being done because demand actually warrants it, or if there’s some ulterior motive. The A380 shouldn’t have to be reactivated for the purpose of pilot training, for example, since Emirates has plenty of A380 simulators.
Expect a different Emirates A380 experience
While the Emirates A380 will be back in the skies, don’t expect the experience to completely be the same. The two most famous features of the Emirates A380 won’t be available for the time being:
- In A380 first class, Emirates will be closing shower suites
- In A380 business class, Emirates will be closing the onboard bar
This is for an indefinite period of time, so we’ll see if/when that changes. Emirates has also adjusted onboard service in general, so don’t expect even Emirates first class to be quite as fun as it used to be.
The Emirates A380 bar will be closed for now
The future of Emirates’ A380
Emirates is by far the world’s largest operator of the A380, with 114 in its fleet, and a further eight of the planes on order. The future of the plane for the airline is still in limbo.
There have been rumors that Emirates may retire 40% of its A380 fleet, given how the landscape has changed due to coronavirus. However, that hasn’t been confirmed. Emirates has recently retired its first Airbus A380, as the plane approaches the 12 year mark.
Production of the A380 will end in 2021, as Emirates takes delivery of it’s last A380. At that point it’s expected that the airline will operate the plane through the mid-2030s, though who knows what will happen at this point.
Emirates A380 first class
Bottom line
It’s nice to see Emirates bring the A380 back into service, even if it’s initially only to two destinations. The A380 is my favorite plane to fly, and the plane hopefully has well over another decade of service at Emirates before it’s retired (unlike at Air France, where A380s were retired because of the pandemic).
My partner is stuck in Pakistan he went to the airport for his flight at 3.30am today trying to get back to Sydney to be told it’s cancelled he has been stuck there since March when will he get a flight?
It’s great to see business coming back but is it just me or are these interiors just way out of date - the bling thing is looking oh so 80’s, and I still wonder how long it will be until they get rid of that inferior middle seat in business - ok I get it no money
The A380 is perhaps the most comfortable aircraft around, but come on: it’s the ugliest thing with wings! And no, Emirates’ cabin design is about as tacky as it gets. Calling it gorgeous? Should’ve gone to Specsavers lol
@1KBrad
Not EVERY exterior angle. The wing curvature of the A380 is an absolute masterpiece of aerodynamic elegance. Not only elegant but it is what gives the aircraft its quiet interior and smooth flight.
First do you fly outside or inside?
Second the only aircraft that could ever command real artistic acclaim would be the Comet, with its engine nacelles carved within the contour of the wings, and its graceful takeoff. (Notwithstanding the deafening...
@1KBrad
Not EVERY exterior angle. The wing curvature of the A380 is an absolute masterpiece of aerodynamic elegance. Not only elegant but it is what gives the aircraft its quiet interior and smooth flight.
First do you fly outside or inside?
Second the only aircraft that could ever command real artistic acclaim would be the Comet, with its engine nacelles carved within the contour of the wings, and its graceful takeoff. (Notwithstanding the deafening noise and pollution!)
"The gorgeous Emirates A380 will start flying again in a few weeks!"
The A380 is comfortable enough inside, but "gorgeous"?
It's an ungainly whale that is unattractive from every exterior angle.
I can see the reasoning and logic behind London as they have stated in the past that it is their premier revenue generator. However, I do not understand Paris. I was under the impression that Paris was performing significantly below EK's expectations and that it would be a massive loss if swapped to the A380. Why not operate Frankfurt as an A380 service? It has to be a stronger contender. Or, if their network planning...
I can see the reasoning and logic behind London as they have stated in the past that it is their premier revenue generator. However, I do not understand Paris. I was under the impression that Paris was performing significantly below EK's expectations and that it would be a massive loss if swapped to the A380. Why not operate Frankfurt as an A380 service? It has to be a stronger contender. Or, if their network planning team knew a thing or two about NETWORK PLANNING, how about helping feed London on the otherside with a Singapore or other strong Asian point? I would expect a little better understanding of how to run an optimal network from the likes of Emirates, but maybe I'm too old to understand the millennial planning methodology. Does their Head of Network have an affinity for Paris? Please, someone enlighten this old man as I'm lost on this one
This is a stunt so that they could get some publicity. You know, DXB is always unimaginable and up to amazing stuff! And given that they've got Dubai EXPO 2020 starting up next year, it's time they gotta gear up quicker and faster. And Dubai is now open for tourists from July 7th. Now, see? Legit everyone is speaking about EK bringing back the A380 to the skies. This is literally like a free ad for them!!!!
anyways, Emirates <3
Publicity stunt as Dubai is reopening for tourism from July 7th. Bringing back the A380 is primarily a signal to show that travel is starting to rebound.
@Lune:
to keep a type rating current, simulator flights count too! So, it's no real necessity to activate a plane for that and EK has quiet some capacity at there training facilities.
I highly doubt passenger bookings are high enough to justify flying an a380 vs their numerous 777s that are still idle. My guess is they're doing it for other reasons, such as rotating their pilots through the flights to keep their type rating from expiring. I'm not a pilot but given that we're nearing 6 months since the global travel collapse started, my guess is they have a bunch of pilots who need to log...
I highly doubt passenger bookings are high enough to justify flying an a380 vs their numerous 777s that are still idle. My guess is they're doing it for other reasons, such as rotating their pilots through the flights to keep their type rating from expiring. I'm not a pilot but given that we're nearing 6 months since the global travel collapse started, my guess is they have a bunch of pilots who need to log some flights or else be forced through an expensive requalification process.
Perhaps people are traveling to visit family and friends around the world?
Global tourism has not rebounded yet
The A380 is my favorite plane to fly as well! Given its size, I'd think it would be easier to social distance in a plane ilke the A380, presuming it's at less than 60% pax capacity.
Yes! I'm really excited. Dubai's back!