Emirates has celebrated five years of A380 operations. In Emirates service the Airbus flagship has flown more than 18 million passengers since August 1 2008 when the airline operated its first scheduled A380 flight from Dubai to New York.
Over the five years of operation, more than 35 million meals have been served during 20,000 trips, spanning 265 million kilometres. In all, 37 airports have been visited, either for scheduled flights, one-off special appearances or because of diversions. Today Emirates operates scheduled services to 21 destinations using the A380.
The A380’s longest non-stop route on the Emirates’ network is Dubai to New York, covering 11,023km during a flight of 13 hours and 26 minutes. The shortest A380 route is between Hong Kong and Bangkok – a distance of 1,900km with a flying time of two hours 20 minutes. In the coming months the A380 network will be extended to Brisbane (October 1), Los Angeles, Mauritius and Zurich.
More than 7,000 cabin crew support a fleet of 35 A380s, along with nearly 670 flightdeck crew, numbers set to increase as the airline takes delivery of another 55 of the aircraft.
In January 2013 Emirates opened a concourse at its Dubai hub dedicated to A380 operations. The concourse, part of Terminal 3, comprises 20 A380-capable contact gates.
“Five swift years have gone by since Emirates changed the face of air travel with this remarkable aircraft,” said Emirates’ president Tim Clark. “Its popularity is now firmly rooted across our six continent network, while our customers continue to enthuse about our onboard product; the overall quietness of this huge aircraft, a unique sense of spaciousness in economy class, mini-pod lie-flat seats in business class and the sanctuary of private suites in first class with access to two onboard shower spas.”
Since August 2008, Emirates has uplifted from its Dubai hub:
- Bread rolls loaded: 14,000,000
- Fresh fruit baskets: 22,438
- Fresh flower displays: 157,062
- Caviar tins (30g): 210,477 (6,314kg)
- Shaving kits: 224,414
- Toothbrushes: 1,009,767
- Cornflake packs: 516,061
- Coffee packs: 2,153,988
- Teabags: 4,375,237
- Sugar packs: 6,731,580
- Baby food jars: 538,500
