These Are Emirates’ 5 Shortest European Routes With The Airbus A380

Emirates
has more than half of the world’s fleet of Airbus A380s
(the only full double-decker commercial aircraft in the world). Emirates’ Shortest flights
to Europe range between around 1,900 miles and 2,800 miles, but these are not the shortest routes the giants find themselves on.

The

shortest Emirates A380 flight is from
Dubai to Riyadh (only 543 miles), while the shortest A380 route in the world is from South Korea’s Seoul Incheon to Japan’s Osaka Kansai (operated by Asiana and only 535 miles long). In 2023,

Emirates even operated a 303-mile A380 flight to neighboring Bahrain
. The following information is per Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

5

Dubai to Munich

Emirates has 30,874 monthly seats to Munich

Emirates’ flight to Munich Airport
Franz Josef Strauss (called Flughafen München „Franz Josef Strauß“ in German) is the airline’s fifth-shortest European flight with the A380. Munich Airport serves the southern Bavarian city of Munich and the surrounding area. When measured by passenger traffic, it is Germany’s second-busiest airport after Frankfurt Airport (Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany).

Photo: kamilpetran | Shutterstock 

Munich Airport is a hub for Lufthansa. In addition to Emirates, it has flights from rivals Etihad (based in Abu Dhabi) and Qatar Airways (based in Doha). Other Middle Eastern airlines flying to Munich include Saudia (Saudi Arabia), SalamAir (Oman), Iraqi Airways, and Gulf Air (Bahrain).

4

Dubai to Rome

Emirates has 30,999 monthly seats to Rome Fiumicino

Rome Fiumicino Airport
(officially Aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci di Roma-Fiumicino) is the primary airport serving the city of Rome and the busiest airport in Italy. It serves around 40 million passengers annually and is well connected to Rome by train. Emirates has 60 operations serving the airport in September with a total of 30,999 seats.

Photo: Emirates

The A350s flying to Rome have the largest amount of seats per departure compared to any other flight on this list. While 516.7 seats per departure is only a tiny amount more than the number of seats per departure to Vienna (515.8), it is a mentionable amount more than the flights to Istanbul with 490.2 seats per departure.

3

Dubai to Vienna

Emirates has 15,473 monthly seats to Vienna

Vienna Airport (or Wien-Schwechat Airport in German) is the largest airport in Austria and is the hub for Austrian Airlines and a significant hub for Ryanair and Wizz Air. Emirates has 30 operations using its massive A380s scheduled for the month of September.

Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

A380s have a range of around 9,200 miles meaning that the 2,626 miles to Vienna is less than a third of what they are capable of. In all, Emirates is scheduled to carry 15,473 seats from Dubai to Vienna in September.

2

Dubai to Moscow

Emirates has 30,236 monthly seats to Moscow Domodedovo

As the United Arab Emirates is not a party to the Western sanctions against Russia (and retaliatory Russian sanctions against the West) in the wake of the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Emirates still operates flights to Russia. As Western and Russian airlines are banned from each other’s airspace, Russians have had to rely more on Middle East-based carriers.

Photo: Photofex_AUT | Shutterstock

Moscow Domodedovo Airport
is one of the largest of the four international airports serving Moscow and handled around 30 million passengers annually before the pandemic and the invasion. Emirates has 60 operations to Domodedovo scheduled for September and these will carry 30,236 seats for the 2,261 miles to Moscow.

Ukraine may have launched a drone attack against Domodedovo
and other Moscow airports recently.

1

Dubai to Istanbul

Emirates has 14,706 monthly seats to Istanbul

The shortest route Emirates serves with its A380 fleet is from Dubai to Istanbul Airport
. Istanbul Airport is a new airport on the European side of the city of Istanbul (the city’s secondary airport, Sabiha Gökçen, is located on the Asian side). Istanbul Airport opened in 2018, replacing the old Atatürk Airport’s passenger services and then its cargo services in 2022. It is now one of the largest and busiest airports on the European continent.

Photo: Emirates

Istanbul is right on the edge of the European continent and is the closest point in Europe served by Emirates’ fleet of A380s. It’s only 1,882 miles from Dubai to Istanbul, and Emirates is expected to have 30 operations in September.