New A380 Routes – by Emirates

The first operator of the A380, Singapore Airlines is bringing the A380 to London in two weeks, but in the meantime, the second airline to receive their first A380, Emirates has announced the planned new routes where they will fly the aircraft initially. Emirates will receive 5 Super-Jumbos this year, and they will roll them out on the following routes with the following dates:

• New York JFK (starting 01OCT2008 – starting 01AUG2008 )
• London Heathrow (starting 01DEC2008 )
• Sydney (starting 01FEB2009)

This really brings two new destinations to the growing network served by the A380: Emirates’ home in Dubai and New York JFK, the first A380 destination in North-America, as London and Sydney will be served by Singapore Airlines by that time. Emirates has also announced that the aircraft flying on these routes will have the following seating arrangement:

• 14 seats in First Class
• 76 seats in Business Class
• 399 seats in Economy Class

Just as a quick comparison: Singapore Airlines is flying the following configuration: 12 in First, 60 in Business, and also 399 in Economy. The total difference is 18 seats surplus for Emirates, which probably means slightly larger space on Singapore, though, but let’s wait to see Emirates’ product when they reveal their first interior. Emirates has also announced, that as the leading customer of the A380 (with 58 airliners on order), they will have several cabin layouts for the type:

• 489 seats in 3 classes (described above and used on international routes mentioned in this article)
• 517 seats in 3 classes (for medium-range routes)
• 604 seats in 2 classes (also for medium-range routes)

Also they hinted that they are still in negotiations about the first commercial A380 route, which then suspects that their first aircraft will have one of the higher seating arrangements and will fly on (a) medium-haul route(s).

by balint01