Emirates is ramping up its schedules as demand rebounds. The Dubai-based giant will deploy 30 of its Airbus A380s and fly to 124 destinations in July. Europe and North America will see a flurry of resumed routes as they quickly reopen to tourists. Let’s find out more about Emirates’ A380 deployment.
Rising
In a statement today, Emirates announced that will deploy 30 of its Airbus A380s to meet the growing travel demand this summer. The planes will serve 15 destinations, down from 18 previously planned, with 129 weekly frequencies. Passengers can fly the superjumbo on routes as short as two hours to 15 hours, depending on their destinations.
Emirates President Sir Tim Clark recently revealed that the airline is currently flying 15 to 20 of its A380s every week. This means July will see the number of Emirates superjumbos sky almost double as tourists look to fly once again.
In total, Emirates operates a fleet of 118 Airbus A380-800s. This means only 25% of the superjumbos will be returning more than a year after COVID-19 first decimated international travel. However, considering Emirates had zero A380s flying in the spring of 2020, this summer marks a sharp and substantial recovery.
Major destinations
Emirates will be deploying the A380 to the following destinations:
- North America: New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Toronto.
- Europe: London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Munich, Moscow, Paris, and Vienna.
- Middle East: Amman, Cairo, Jeddah.
- Asia-Pacific: Guangzhou
Back in March, Emirates filed plans to fly the superjumbo to 18 cities this summer. Since then, Morocco, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Beijing, and Shanghai and have been dropped. While the latter two have likely been dropped due to China’s strict entry restrictions, Mumbai and Johannesburg are both considered high-risk regions due to new virus variants. Instead, the carrier has added Frankfurt and Vienna due to stronger demand.
Countries preparing
In total, Emirates will operate flights to 124 destinations starting this July, which represents almost 90% of its pre-pandemic network. The airline has been launching new routes as well, the most recent one being to Miami. However, capacity deployment remains closely linked to travel restrictions imposed by countries.
The European Union has begun easing travel restrictions for passengers from much of the world, allowing traffic to quickly return. Countries like Spain, Greece, Italy, and Austria are all hoping for a strong summer recovery as vaccinations quickly roll out in parts of the world.
For Emirates, the summer of 2021 will likely mark a turning point after a difficult year. The carrier reported a record $5.5 billion loss as the pandemic decimated business last year. While 2021 continues to see fewer passengers, hopefully, the worst for the airline is over.
Source: Simple Flying
