United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier, Emirates Airline has confirmed it will introduce its Airbus A380 into scheduled passenger operation to three additional markets during 2016: Birmingham, Prague and Taipei. It will be the first and only airline to operate a scheduled Super Jumbo service from each of these destinations.
In a move that will boost capacity in all three markets, the A380s will replace Boeing 777-300ERs during the first half of next year. Emirates will use a two-class A380 on one of its three daily flights between Dubai and Birmingham (EK039/040), while three-class examples will be deployed on its routes from Dubai to Prague and Taipei from May 1, 2016. The airline will also introduce a second daily A380 rotation in the Dubai – Barcelona market from June 1, 2016, having first deployed the type on the route from February 2014.
“The introduction and increase of Emirates’A380 services in these strategic destinations means more travellers will have the opportunity to experience our industry-leading A380 product,” said Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline.
“Deploying larger capacity aircraft, such as the A380, also helps us to efficiently meet growing passenger demand in these markets, contribute to tourism development and enhance customer choice and options,” he added.
Flying the world’s largest fleet of A380 aircraft at 71, Emirates continues to set the pace for A380 deployment. Since Emirates launched is first A380 flight in 2008, the aircraft has flown over 42 million passengers, covering more than 630 million kilometres.
The addition of an A380 on the Birmingham route follows the recent introduction of Emirates’ third daily flight to Birmingham, as well as the airline’s milestone 15th year of operations to the city being celebrated this week. The use of a three-class example between Dubai and Prague will boost capacity by 44 per cent, while the type’s deployment to Taipei follows the completion of infrastructure work at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport to permit A380 operations.
In one of its three-class A380 arrangements, there are up to 429 seats in Economy Class, 76 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 14 Private Suites in First Class where passengers also have access to the world’s only onboard Shower Spas. Emirates’ two-class configured A380 features 58 flat-bed seats and 557 seats in Economy Class.
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