Emirates Won’t Fly A380s To US, Slashes Schedule & First Class

Update: Here’s what we can expect from Emirates’ 2021 schedule for US service.

Airlines have obviously been making significant changes to schedules, given the current unprecedented situation. While airlines have historically planned aircraft assignments a year in advance, nowadays we’re seeing airlines sometimes adjust schedules just days and weeks in advance.

More from OMAAT IATA Summer & Winter Airline Schedules: What Are They, Why Should You Care? Read more

Emirates has just updated its schedule for the northern winter (which applies for flights between October 25, 2020, and March 27, 2021), and my gosh, there are some significant service reductions, as noted by Routes Online.

Emirates will operate A380 skeleton fleet

Emirates is currently operating very few A380s, and that trend will continue through next summer. Emirates has only scheduled A380s to the following destinations during that period (note that in many cases only a limited number of frequencies in these markets are operated by A380s):

• Amsterdam
• Bangkok
• Beijing
• Cairo
• Frankfurt
• Guangzhou
• Hong Kong
• London Heathrow
• Manchester
• Mauritius
• Mumbai
• Munich
• Paris
• Shanghai

As you might notice, Emirates won’t fly any A380s to the US for the upcoming winter schedule.

Emirates is by far the world’s largest operator of the A380, with over 110 in its fleet. There has been talk about Emirates possibly retiring quite a few of these planes, though there hasn’t been any confirmation of that so far. I guess we’ll see if that happens.

Emirates will operate a very limited number of A380 flights

What will Emirates’ winter schedule look like?

I suppose it doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but Emirates is greatly scaling back its US winter schedule. No destinations get A380s, virtually all destinations get reduced frequencies, and some destinations no longer get first class.

Here’s a rundown of Emirates’ US routes for the winter schedule:

• Dubai to Athens to Newark — this route is resuming on December 2, and will operate 4x weekly with a 777-300ER (previously daily with a 777-300ER)
• Dubai to Boston — this route will operate 4x weekly with a 777-300ER (previously daily with an A380)
• Dubai to Chicago — this route will operate 5x weekly with a 777-300ER (previously daily with a 777-300ER)
• Dubai to Dallas — this route will operate 4x weekly with a 777-300ER (previously daily with a 777-300ER)
• Dubai to Fort Lauderdale — this route is canceled permanently, but that was previously announced
• Dubai to Houston — this route will operate 3x weekly with a 777-200LR (previously daily with a 777-300ER); note that Emirates’ 777-200LRs don’t feature first class
• Dubai to Los Angeles — this route will operate 4x weekly with a 777-300ER (previously daily with an A380)
• Dubai to Milan to New York — this route will operate daily with a 777-200LR (previously daily with an A380); note that Emirates’ 777-200LRs don’t feature first class
• Dubai to Newark — this route is canceled permanently
• Dubai to New York — this route will operate daily with a 777-300ER (previously twice daily with an A380)
• Dubai to Orlando — this route is canceled through at least June 1, 2021
• Dubai to San Francisco — this route will operate 3x weekly with a 777-200LR (previously daily with an A380); note that Emirates’ 777-200LRs don’t feature first class
• Dubai to Seattle — this route will operate 3x weekly with a 777-200LR (previously daily with a 777-300ER); note that Emirates’ 777-200LRs don’t feature first class
• Dubai to Washington — this route will operate 4x weekly with a 777-300ER (previously daily with an A380)

Emirates will fly 777-300ERs on most US routes

To summarize, as you can see:

• Nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale, Newark, and Orlando, are canceled
• No A380s will fly to the US, and virtually all routes are seeing reduced frequencies
• Houston, New York (via Milan), San Francisco, and Seattle, won’t feature first class (on the plus side, Emirates’ 777-200LR business class is better than its 777-300ER business class)

Emirates’ 777-200LR business class (there’s no first class)

Bottom line

It’s not surprising to see Emirates significantly scale back its winter schedule, given travel restrictions in place around the globe. In the case of the US specifically, Emirates won’t operate any A380s to US gateways, frequencies will be reduced, and a few routes will be operated by 777-200LRs, featuring a superior business class (at least compared to the 777-300ER) but no first class.

What do you make of Emirates’ service adjustments?