The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest commercial jet. Its two floors offer high density and enough space for airlines to provide their most innovative premium products. Flights to the US from Europe also benefit from high premium demand; the A380 is, therefore, still an aircraft of choice for these sectors today. Today, we will look at the airlines that operate the type, what sort of premium products they offer, and what the future holds for transatlantic superjumbo flights.
What airlines operate the superjumbo on transatlantic flights?
British Airways
According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, the airline that operates the most flights on the giant quadjet is British Airways. The UK’s flag carrier operates six rotations daily across the ocean to Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Dallas, Miami, Washington, and Boston.
Photo: Thiago B Trevisan | Shutterstock.com
These are the type of routes where the A380, with a capacity of 469 seats, is a perfect fit for high-demand flights.
|
Routes |
Available Seat Miles |
|---|---|
|
LHR-IAD-LHR |
51,735,390 |
|
LHR-BOS-LHR |
45,938,550 |
|
LHR-LAX-LHR |
76,765,920 |
|
LHR-SFO-LHR |
75,527,760 |
|
LHR-DFW-LHR |
66,846,570 |
|
LHR-IAD-LHR |
51,735,390 |
Lufthansa
Lufthansa also operates A380s across the Atlantic, and is the second-largest carrier by number of flights operated using the type. From their Bavarian hub, Munich, the Airbus flies to Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Boston, and Washington.
Photo: Tamme Wichmann | Shutterstock
|
Route |
Available Seat Mile |
|---|---|
|
MUC-LAX-MUC |
91,452,030 |
|
MUC-JFK-MUC |
61,660,260 |
|
MUC-BOS-MUC |
58,804,770 |
|
MUC-IAD-MUC |
65,096,010 |
Lufthansa’s A380s have a capacity of 509 seats; again, the Super Jumbo is ideal for responding to such high-demand routes.
Emirates
Although it is by far the largest A380 operator in the world, unsurprisingly, it has the fewest flights from Europe to the US operated by the A380, with just one daily rotation. This is the Emirati flag carrier, after all, and most of their transatlantic flights originate and arrive at the airline’s hub in the heart of Dubai.
|
Route |
ASMs |
|---|---|
|
MXP-JFK-MXP |
62,194,160 |
Photo: Photofex_AUT | Shutterstock
This rotation is one of the rare fifth-freedom flights between Europe and the US. An airline’s fifth freedom, as laid out by ICAO, is the right to fly a leg between two airports outside of its hubs and sell tickets—examples are Air Tahiti Nui’s CDG-LAX-PPT flight and Singapore Airlines’s SIN-FRA-JFK flights.
What do these airlines offer in first class onboard their A380 routes?
As airlines await their 777X deliveries, the A380 remains one of their flagships, which means the jet will feature some of their best products. Let’s examine each airline individually.
Emirates
Let’s begin with the Dubai-based UAE flag carrier; they have some of the most interesting onboard products – including the onboard bar just after the forward stairs leading to the upper deck – all A380s have it. Still, some will feature the newer version with wider seats and white leather, while others will have beige leather.
Of course, first class passengers will also shower for up to fifteen minutes (although they can ask the cabin crew to have the timer reset to get more time) in their dedicated lounge on the upper deck.
Lufthansa
While customers traveling in LH’s first class will not get to shower onboard or have a glass of champagne in the onboard lounge, they will nonetheless experience luxury in the airline’s first class.
Photo: Lufthansa
On the A380, a bit like Singapore Airlines, who used to operate the A380 between Frankfurt and New York, first class passengers can still enjoy a much broader toilet with a bench and large mirrors, the perfect place to freshen up and get into the provided pajamas or wash your face.
While the airline doesn’t plan to give the
Allegris
treatment to its A380, One Mile At A Time revealed that there has been talk of fitting the superjumbo with a new business class seat starting in 2025. There have been no announcements about the first-class product, but hopefully, it will be refurbished soon.
British Airways
Last but not least is the British flag carrier’s A380 first class offering; much like Lufthansa, there’s no onboard bar and no shower, but the luxury is still there.
To begin with, though still in the terminal, all first class passengers get access to the Concorde Room. This exclusive area within the first class lounge is BA’s most premium on-ground offering – when Terminal 5 was initially built; it was designed to cater only to Concorde passengers. Still, this bird retired before the terminal’s opening.
Unlike other airlines, this first class is located on the lower deck, towards the front of the aircraft. In some way, it looks similar to the Club Suites, which are the newest business class seats (and will soon be on the A380, too), except these first class seats do not have sliding doors.
Related
Is First Class Dying Or Just Being Relabeled?
Bells have tolled for the end of first class for a while, but are they right? Oman Air announced a new business class suite to replace its first class cabin. The airline’s CEO cited softening demand for first class as a reason for the change. Several airlines have switched from offering three classes to two: business and economy. Some have kept three classes, replacing first class with business and introducing a premium economy cabin. Others, like SWISS, still offer a first class suite with a narrow cabin footprint.
I always have trouble when people say first class is dead. It’s not, really. But it has been rebranded. When I started working on aircraft cabins in the early 90s, the first class seat consisted of a reclining chair, similar to what you find in domestic first class in the US today and in many premium economy cabins worldwide. Even when Air France and British Airways revolutionized first class flying by introducing lay-flat seats in 2000, they
The future of the A380
All three airlines have planned to keep the aircraft into the 2030s; however, the A380 is near-extinct. Air France retired its superjumbo fleet in 2020, even though it used to be quite popular on its US-bound routes. This is because, for most airlines, not only is the aircraft too costly, but their cabins have not been updated since delivery, which in some cases means at least a decade-old product.
Airlines compete for their state-of-the-art offerings on routes as premium as Europe to the US, which unfortunately is not present in the quadjet. Therefore, it is slowly being replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft like the
Airbus A350-900
on these routes.
Surprisingly, one British airline is trying to penetrate the UK-US market by buying up second-hand A380s. This is
Global Airlines
. Not much is known about their cabin offerings, but hopefully, they can compete and bring the A380 back to the center stage.