If there have been casualties in aviation fleets thanks to COVID-19, the Airbus A380 has taken a large hit. However, Emirates seems happy enough to return the giant aircraft to its rightful place – back in the sky.
Emirates A380 taking off from London Heathrow – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The Airbus A380 will operate between Dubai International Airport and London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports.
Emirates have parked its A380 fleet since March when the pandemic began to sweep through. The announcement from Emirates indicates that they are preparing to start moving at least a few of their large aircraft back into service.
The timing of the A80 re-entering service is a week after Dubai is planning to re-open to ex-pats and Tourists who want to visit the United Arab Emirates (with a list… and I mean a list of restrictions – all at https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2020/June/21-06/Supreme-Committee-of-Crisis-and-Disaster-Management-announces-new-air-travel-protocols).
Life in the A380 yet.
The Airbus A380 has been at the brunt of airlines cutting it from their fleets – either by outright dropping the type, accelerating the retirement of the type or just parking the aircraft for a while.
Here’s a quick look at how many A380s were flying at the time of writing:
Count them… One A380 in the air at the time of writing – Data, Flightradar24
Emirates has the largest A380 fleet in the world, with 116 of the type in its fleet, along with the final aircraft that will be produced. As such, the A380 was the backbone of the fleet, supported by the Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.
With the aircraft designed for dense passenger loadings, Emirates will be seeking to load up the passengers. But in a way, it could also be used to promote physical distancing onboard due to the sheer amount of space an A380 offers across all its classes of travel
It will be interesting to see which destinations Emirates adds A380 capacity back next.
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