Summary
- The Airbus A380, a super jumbo jet, entered service in 2007 with Singapore Airlines as its launch customer.
- The rise of low-cost carriers and fuel-efficient twin-engine planes led to a decline in demand for the A380, causing Airbus to end production in 2021.
- As of August 2023, Emirates is the largest operator of the A380, accounting for 68.6% of all A380 capacity, followed by British Airways and Singapore Airlines. Dubai International Airport is the busiest airport for A380 flights.
Regarded as being a super jumbo jet, the sleek double-decker Airbus A380 is one of the most loved aircraft flying today. In this article, we will examine which airlines fly the most passengers on the Airbus A380 in 2023.
While Boeing was convinced that airlines would be more interested in fuel-efficient twin-engine aircraft like the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787, Airbus had another idea. Seeing the potential for a high-capacity plane on popular routes in the mid-1980s, the European plane maker began working on an ultra-high-capacity airliner.
The A380 entered service with launch customer Singapore Airlines in 2007
After years of development and spiraling costs, the plane that would become the Airbus A380 made its maiden flight on April 27, 2005. After extensive flight tests, the A380 received its European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval a year later.
Troubled by delays, the Airbus A380 was finally delivered to launch customer Singapore Airlines on October 15, 2007. The aircraft’s first revenue-producing flight was between Singapore Changi Airport and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) on October 25, 2007.
Hub and spoke models were popular
When Airbus came up with the concept of a superjumbo, for the most part, airlines operated hub-and-spoke models with a hub like Dubai International Airport (DXB) linking large airports. However, with the rise of low-cost carriers and point-to-point operations using more fuel-efficient twin-engine planes, the A380 fell out of favor.
Photo: Singapore Airlines
Airbus saw the writing on the wall and announced that A380 production would end in 2021, delivering its last A380 to its largest operator, Emirates, on December 16, 2021.
Emirates is the largest operator of the A380
Certified to accommodate as many as 853 passengers in a single-class configuration, the world’s largest Airbus A380 operator, Emirates, configures its A380s in four classes, which are:
- 4 Class (ultra-long-range) – 484 seats
- 3 Class (long-range) – 517 seats
- 3 Class (ultra-long-range) – 489 seats
- 2 Class (long-range) – 615 seats
When COVID-19 reared its head in 2019, little did we know then that the acute respiratory syndrome would cause the world to come to a standstill.
With air travel virtually halted, airlines had time to think about their Airbus A380 operations, leading many to retire the super jumbo from their fleets. Fast-forward to 2023, and we have seen a summer travel season like nothing before, with millions of people making up for the months of lockdowns.
The upturn in travel made Lufthansa and Etihad delay plans to retire their A380s, bringing them back in service in June and July. As of August 2023, ten airlines are still operating the Airbus A380:
- Emirates
- British Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- Qantas
- Lufthansa
- Korean Air
- Etihad Airways
- Asiana Airlines
- All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Looking at the month of August 2023, at the height of the summer travel season, Dubai-based Emirates accounted for 68.6% of all Airbus A380 capacity. The Gulf carrier performed 4,649 flights with 2.4 million seats available. British Airways was second with its 12 Airbus A380s offering 240,600 seats. In third place was Singapore Airlines, with 233,600 seats.
The busiest airport for the A380 was DXB
According to the airline schedule’s database website, OAG Schedules Analyzer world worldwide A380 capacity was At 65% when compared to the same month in 2019.
Photo: Emirates
Regarding airports, it’s hardly surprising that the world’s largest operator, Emirates, with 119 A380s in its fleet, made Dubai International Airport (DXB) the busiest airport for A380 flights. DXB accounted for 1.16 million departure seats during August.
According to OAG data, Airbus A380 aircraft landed at 81 airports during August, up one from July, with the most popular route by capacity being Dubai International Airport (DXB) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
London Heathrow to Singapore and Singapore to Sydney were the only two A380 routes in the top ten busiest that did not involve Dubai.
Source: OAG