During the COVID-19 pandemic, many airlines dramatically reduce their operations. Emirates is one of the airlines that significantly downsized its activity. The airline even decided to temporarily stop flying the Airbus A380, in favor of its Boeing 777 aircraft. Now, the Gulf carrier announced that it will slowly restart A380 operations.

Iconic Airbus A380

Emirates currently owns a staggering 115 Airbus A380 passenger aircraft. An additional eight A380s follow in the coming years. However, rumor has it that the Gulf carrier may not be interested anymore due to current market conditions. With an average age of only a little over six years, the A380 fleet is still very young. The first Airbus jumbojet arrived in summer 2008, whereas the last delivery was only at the end of 2019.

Airbus A380 at Emirates has several seating arrangements, being either three or two class. In the three class configuration you will find Economy and Business Class, but also a world renowned First Class cabin. You can see the corresponding seat maps here.

Airbus A380 routes

From July 15th, 2020, the Dubai based carrier will start to fly the A380 again. The first two routes are Dubai (DXB) to London Heathrow (LHR) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). The total current network consists of forty worldwide cities. They are mostly operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Read an up-to-date overview here. Dubai Airport re-opens on July 7th 2020.

“The A380 remains a popular aircraft amongst our customers and it offers many unique on-board features. We are delighted to bring it back into the skies to serve our customers on flights to London and Paris from 15 July, and we are looking forward to gradually introduce our A380 into more destinations according to the travel demand on specific destinations. The Emirates A380 experience remains unique in the industry, and even though we’ve modified services onboard for the health and safety of our crew and customers, we are confident that our customers would welcome flying again in this quiet, comfortable aircraft.”

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer

Although the Airbus A380 does not operate the Dubai – New York JFK route (EK201) yet, it may soon be added would demand increase. Currently you can expect the Boeing 777-300ER.

Before traveling to or through Dubai, always take local travel regulations into account. Also take note of the safety regulations of the airline. You can read Emirates’ safety precautions here.