Emirates' Global Flying Rises, A380 Fleet Reaches 93 In-Service Aircraft

Emirates said it has boosted its operations by 31% since its financial year began on April 1, 2022, in terms of available seat kilometers.

The airline said it has planned and executed the rapid growth of its network operations in recent months: reintroducing services to five cities; launching new services to Tel Aviv; adding 251 weekly flights onto existing routes; and continuing the roll-out of service enhancements in the air and on the ground.

“Emirates continues to expand its global network and deploy its capacity to meet travel demand across the world,” Emirates Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim said in a March 14 statement.

The financial year started relatively quietly as the carrier held back pro-actively ramping up until completion of the northern runway rehabilitation program at Dubai International airport, which was finished in June.

“From July 2022 onwards, it’s been non-stop expansion,” Kazim said.

As customer demand has been very strong, and forward bookings are also robust, Emirates said it is working hard on several fronts to bring back operating capacity as quickly as the ecosystem can manage.

“While also upgrading our fleet and product ... so far, four of our A380s have been completely refurbished with our new cabin interiors and Premium Economy seats, and more will enter service as our $2 billion cabin and service enhancement program picks up pace,” Kazim said.

Regarding upcoming A380 deployments in the northern Summer 2023 season, destinations starting from late March include Glasgow (March 26), Casablanca (April 15), Beijing (May 1), Shanghai (June 4), Nice (June 1), Birmingham (July 1), Kuala Lumpur (Aug. 1) and Taipei starting (from Aug. 1).

Emirates spokesperson Valerie Tan confirmed to Aviation Week that the carrier has 93 A380s in service as of March 14. Twenty-eight A380s remain in storage.

Some notable upcoming route enhancement include London, with the start of a second daily service to London Stansted on May 1. London will be served 11 times per day, including six daily flights to London Heathrow and three to London Gatwick.

Emirates’ nonstop Australia flights will return to pre-pandemic levels. This comprises increased services to Sydney starting May 1 (3X-daily), Melbourne starting March 26 (3X-daily one via Singapore) and double-daily services to Brisbane starting June 1.

Christchurch in New Zealand will restart of daily service from Dubai via Sydney from March 26.

In East Asia, Bangkok will see the addition of a fifth daily service from Aug. 1, while Beijing will become double daily and operated by A380s effective May 1, with a second daily A380 service to the Chinese capital from Sept. 1.

Dubai-Hong Kong will become a double-daily service starting March 29 and Kuala Lumpur gets a third daily service starting in June.

Services to Japan will see a resumption of daily services to Tokyo Haneda starting April 2, besides daily A380 services to Tokyo-Narita and a daily Boeing 777 service to Osaka.