Summary

  • Emirates will use the A380 between Dubai and Bahrain on June 13 and 14.
  • It will cover just 263 nautical miles (488 km) each way.
  • Most flights take between 45 minutes and one hour, depending on the direction.

Emirates will use the A380 between Dubai and Bahrain to meet the higher demand due to the religious festival of Eid. It will temporarily be the shortest double-decker quadjet service by distance, block, and flight time.

The A380 from Dubai to Bahrain

The 263 nautical mile (488 km) route will only see the type on June 13 and 14. It will cover 43% less distance than what was the world’s shortest A380 service planned this summer: Asiana from Seoul Incheon to Osaka Kansai.

Emirates’ data supplied to Cirium indicates that the two-class, 615-seat configuration will be deployed. It does not have first class and is the world’s highest-capacity A380 layout.

Emirates A380 two-class 615-seater

Photo: Wirestock Creators I Shutterstock

The A380 will be on the following flights, with all times local. The block time to Bahrain is 1h 15m and up to 1h 30m back to the UAE. Flightradar24 shows that the flight time varies from 45 minutes to about an hour. It’ll likely take longer to board the aircraft than the flight itself.

  • Dubai to Bahrain: 20:50-21:05 (June 13); 01:30-01:45 (June 14)
  • Bahrain to Bahrain: 22:50-01:15+1 (June 13), 03:30-06:00 (June 14)

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They aren’t strangers to Bahrain

Emirates’ double-deckers are no strangers to Bahrain, where I will be in October to attend Routes World. Examining schedules using Cirium data shows that it had a one-off bookable service in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2020. Various reasons exist, including for Eid, the Bahrain International Airshow, and the Bahrain National Day celebrations.

It temporarily operated daily in June 2021, with a one-off flight in December of that year. The type returned with two roundtrip services in 2022 (Bahrain Airshow), 2023 (Formula 1 Grand Prix), and now in 2024 (Eid).

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Dubai-Bahrain schedule

Emirates, flydubai, and Gulf Air all operate between the two cities. As well as considerable point-to-point demand (~830,000 roundtrip passengers in 2023), the two UAE carriers revolve around connections over Dubai and Gulf Air transit passengers over its Bahrain hub.

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The schedule from Dubai on June 13 is listed below. There are 17 departures (double for both ways), making Bahrain the joint third most-served destination from Dubai after Riyadh (30) and Jeddah (18). It is tied with Kuwait (17).

  • 00:25: flydubai, 737 MAX 8
  • 01:50: Emirates, 777-300ER
  • 07:15: flydubai, 737 MAX 8
  • 08:00: Gulf Air, A320neo
  • 08:30: Emirates, 777-300ER
  • 11:00: Gulf Air, A320ceo
  • 11:05: flydubai, 737 MAX 8
  • 12:55: Gulf Air, A321neo
  • 14:35: flydubai, 737 MAX 8
  • 16:10: Emirates, 777-300ER
  • 17:00: Gulf Air, A320neo
  • 17:15: flydubai, 737 MAX 8
  • 19:10: Gulf Air, A321neo
  • 20:40: flydubai, 737 MAX 8
  • 20:50: Emirates, A380 (this flight gets back to Dubai to connect to many Asian services)
  • 21:00: Gulf Air, A320neo
  • 23:35: Gulf Air, 787-9 (the inbound flight to Dubai will be fed by passengers from Europe, with the 23:35 departure connecting to the most Europe-bound flights from Bahrain)

What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.

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