Where Does Emirates Fly Its 2-Class 615-Seat Airbus A380s?

Emirates, one of the most recognizable airlines, operates one of the most modern fleets of Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft. While the carrier is yet to receive its next wave of next-generation aircraft, including the Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777X, and 787, this article will look at some of the carrier’s most popular routes and where it deploys its most densely configured Airbus A380.

Seven different configurations

To understand all this, we must look at Emirates’ overall A380 fleet, which operates 116 of the infamous double-decker. Emirates is the world’s largest variant operator and has commenced retrofitting some of its older versions with premium economy seats. It is also home to the last A380 ever built, the A6-EVS (serial number 272).

Within all the A380’s at Emirates, there are seven different aircraft configurations, so the airline can deploy the best aircraft on the route that requires that capacity. Further details below:

For the purpose of this article, we will be focusing on Variant Six.

All aboard

From Dubai to the world, the most dense variant can carry up to 615 passengers in a two-class configuration. The airline has eliminated first and premium economy class on this route to ensure it can carry the highest number of economy class passengers across its entire fleet. This ensures the airline can optimize its revenue on the route depending on market demand.

Without further ado, let’s analyze the densely configured A380’s most popular routes in August, according to data from Cirium, an online aviation analytics company:

38,130 seats

This August, Emirates will connect Dubai International Airport (DXB) to three different airports with the 615-seater: Manchester (MAN) and Gatwick International Airport (LGW) in the United Kingdom, alongside Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Thailand.

With 38,130 seats each way, it is the carrier’s most popular routes for this variant and will see 62 operations to each port in each direction. This represents a total available seat miles (ASMs) of:

• Manchester (MAN): 134,141,340 (3,518 miles as the crow flies)
• London Gatwick (LGW): 129,832,650 (3,405 miles)
• Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK): 116,296,500 (3,050 miles)

19,065 seats

While only half the number of flights is seen above, Emirates proudly serves these destinations with the dense 615 seater:

A snapshot of operations

With this information at hand, Simple Flying decided to dig a bit deeper into three of its most popular routes in August and get a snapshot of the airline’s current schedules to Manchester, Bali, and Mauritius. Are you booked to fly with Emirates on these services any time soon?

Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Manchester International Airport (MAN)

Emirates serves Dubai three times daily with the A380; however, only two services have a higher-density variant. EK17/18 is the exception here.

• EK19 departs Dubai at 14:30, arriving in Manchester at 19:15
• EK20 departs Manchester at 21:15, arriving in Dubai at 07:25
• EK21 departs Dubai at 03:00, arriving in Manchester at 07:45
• EK22 departs Manchester at 09:50, arriving in Dubai at 22:00

Emirates is one of the largest foreign long-haul carriers to the United Kingdom, with services to Birmingham, Edinburgh (from November 4), Glasgow, London (Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted), and Newcastle.

Source: GCMap

Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Bali Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS)

Connecting Dubai to the popular tourist hotspot of Bali, Indonesia, Emirates serves this route with two daily services. One of which, however, is served with the Boeing 777-300ER. For those fortunate enough to be booked on the double-decker, you would follow this schedule:

• EK368 departs Dubai at 03:35, arriving in Bali at 16:35
• EK369 departs Bali at 19:40, arriving in Dubai at 00:50

The Boeing 777 service follows this itinerary:

• EK398 departs Dubai at 09:10, arriving in Bali at 22:20
• EK399 departs Bali at 00:05, arriving in Dubai at 05:05

Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Mauritius Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU)

If Mauritius is on your bucket list, and you’re destined to fly Emirates, the UAE carrier also connects Port Louis (the country’s capital) to Dubai twice daily. However, while the carrier previously deployed the A380 twice daily, only one was served with the higher-density variant:

• EK703 departs Dubai at 10:05, arriving in Port Louis at 16:40
• EK704 departs Port Louis at 21:50, arriving in Dubai at 04:25

For those on EK701/702, this is operated with an three-class configuration (14F/76C/429Y)

• EK701 departs Dubai at 02:35, arriving in Port Louis at 09:10
• EK702 departs Port Louis at 16:35, arriving in Dubai at 23:10

Related

A Look At Emirates’ Different Airbus A380 Seating Configurations

Emirates flies its many A380s in several different seating and class configurations.