Summary
- Etihad (pictured above) resumed A380 flights between Abu Dhabi and New York JFK in April 2024.
- It is the world’s fifth-longest non-Emirates quadjet service, but only the 17th when Emirates is added.
- Qantas’ Sydney-Singapore-London Heathrow is the longest route, but Melbourne-Los Angeles is when only non-stops are considered.
Think the Airbus A380, think Emirates. Of course, the Middle East giant massively dominates any discussion of the double-decker quadjet. After all, it has by far the largest fleet and the most flights and routes, operates many of the longer legs, and had the shortest service recently. Its supremacy means other operators – All Nippon, Asiana, British Airways, Etihad, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines – inevitably get less attention.
The longest non-Emirates A380 routes
The following table summarizes them. They are based from July to December 2024. Given Qantas’ geographic location, it is unsurprising that it features three times – more than any other operator.
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
For completeness, although it is a bit unfair, non-stop and one-stop flights are combined. Given this, Qantas’ Kangaroo service is the number one route globally, comfortably surpassing Emirates’ Dubai-Auckland service. However, Qantas’ Melbourne-Los Angeles would be the first non-Emirates operation if only non-stop flights were considered.
The distance is based on the Great Circle. It may vary in real-world operations, which could impact the order. The data is correct as of July 11 but may change, especially towards the end of the year. If only non-stops were considered, Qantas would feature three times, with Singapore-London.
|
Nautical miles (km) |
Overall A380 route length rank* |
One-stop/non-stop Airport pair |
Comments about the A380: July-December (dates relate to departures from the airline’s homeland) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
9,274 (17,176) |
1 |
Sydney-Singapore-London Heathrow |
Qantas daily year-round A380 |
|
6,883 (12,748) |
7 |
Melbourne-Los Angeles |
Qantas twice-weekly year-round A380 |
|
6,507 (12,051) |
10 |
Sydney-Los Angeles |
Qantas daily year-round A380 |
|
6,001 (11,114) |
15 |
Seoul Incheon-New York JFK |
Korean Air three to four weekly A380 in July, daily in August and September, daily until October 5, then no flights until October 27, and daily in November/December |
|
5,967 (11,051) |
17 |
Abu Dhabi-New York JFK |
Etihad. Six-weekly A380 until the end of October, then daily |
|
5,878 (10,887) |
20= |
London Heathrow-Singapore |
British Airways daily year-round A380 (terminator; it doesn’t continue to Australia) |
|
5,878 (10,887) |
20= |
Singapore-London Heathrow |
Singapore Airlines double daily year-round A380 |
|
5,552 (10,281) |
23 |
Singapore-Frankfurt |
Singapore Airlines daily year-round A380 |
|
5,209 (9,646) |
24= |
Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles |
Asiana double daily A380, but daily from December |
|
5,209 (9,646) |
24= |
Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles |
Korean Air double daily A380, but daily in November and December |
|
* Out of all A380 operators, incl. Emirates |
Etihad between Abu Dhabi and JFK
Etihad to the Big Apple is notable because the UAE airline resumed using its double-decker quadjets on the route on April 22, 2024. British Airways returned the A380 to Singapore on March 31, 2024. Aside from this pair, all the other airline routes in the table saw the double-decker last year.
Photo: Etihad
As Etihad previously deployed the double-decker to JFK between November 2015 and March 2020, it returned after four years. The carrier has five 486-seat A380s. It is particularly well-known for its three-room The Residence suites.
Notice from the table that the type is currently used six weekly to JFK. On the other day (Tuesdays), the 226-seat 787-9 is deployed instead, with 260 fewer seats for sale per flight.
Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock
The A380 is on EY1 to New York, which leaves the UAE at 02:40 and arrives at 09:05 local this week. I often hear it being cleared to land on LiveATC. Returning, EY2 departs at 14:00/14:30 and gets back at 11:00+1/11:30+1. Curiously, this is the carrier’s second-largest bank of North American arriving and departing flights at Abu Dhabi.