November 15, 2011 — Emirates’ A380 services from London Heathrow will become triple daily from 24th January, 2012.

This will mean three out of the airline’s five daily flights from Heathrow will be served by the superjumbo.

Emirates’ flagship aircraft will replace Boeing 777s on EK flight 030 to Dubai and on the return flight EK 029, adding capacity to one of the airline’s busiest routes.

“Given the popularity of Emirates’ A380s, I know this news will be well received by our customers flying between London Heathrow, Dubai and beyond. As these magnificent aircraft continue to join our fleet, we can offer more seats and choice in and out of high density points, while enabling a greater number of passengers to benefit from the Emirates’ A380 experience,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation.

The airline brought its own brand of double decker, equipped with an Onboard Lounge and Shower Spas, to London in December 2008. After supporting EK flights 001 and 002 between Dubai and Heathrow, EK 003 and EK 004 became A380 services in June of last year.

The giant aircraft, known for its quietness and spaciousness, offers 14 flat-bed First Class Private Suites with electrically operated doors and 76 fully-flat seats in Business Class – all with aisle access – on the upper deck. Downstairs, there are 427 comfortable contoured seats in Economy, spread across four separate cabins.

Passengers in all classes have a choice of more than 1000 channels of films, television programmes, music and games carried on the ice entertainment system.

A personal satellite phone is fitted to each seat, which also carries a seat-back sms and email service, along with seat to seat calling and a “My USB” personal picture viewing facility.

The third A380 service from Heathrow is another major investment for Emirates in the UK, where it operates 105 weekly flights from six gateways: London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.

In September of last year, Manchester, which is now a triple daily service, became Emirates’ second UK gateway to be served by the superjumbo, replacing EK flight 017 and 018.

The international airline of the UAE has a fleet of 17 A380s amongst a total fleet of 162 aircraft, flying to 116 destinations – now including Baghdad.

At the Dubai Air Show on Sunday (13th November, 2011), Emirates announced an order for an additional 50 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, worth approximately US$ 18 billion (AED 66 billion) in list prices. The agreement also included 20 Boeing 777-300ER options valued at US$8 billion (AED 29.4 billion), lifting the total order to 70 aircraft worth US$ 26 billion (AED 95.4 billion).

August 19, 2010 – Emirates, the world’s largest operator of the Airbus A380, today announced Hong Kong as the newest destination for its ‘superjumbo’.

Emirates has a total of 12 A380s in service with 78 on order and Hong Kong will become the Dubai-based global airline’s 11th A380 destination.

Starting on 1st October, an Emirates A380 will operate daily from Dubai as EK384 via Bangkok with the return flight operating as EK385.

Richard Jewsbury, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East and Australasia, said: “We are very excited to announce Hong Kong as a new Emirates A380 destination.

“This commercially-vibrant metropolis became part of Emirates’ ever-expanding network back in 1991, and today we operate a double-daily service between Hong Kong and Dubai, one non-stop and one flight via Bangkok. We also operate 18 weekly Emirates SkyCargo freighter services.

“We are proud to be able to demonstrate our commitment to Hong Kong by putting our flagship aircraft on this route. Our passengers from Hong Kong now have the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful service and comforts available on this aircraft and our passengers from Thailand will have the option of flying the A380 to either Dubai or Hong Kong.”

Emirates’ luxurious A380 products include two onboard shower spas in the First Class cabin, featuring signature amenities by the airline’s premium spa brand, Timeless Spa. For First and Business Class passengers the onboard lounge is the social highlight, featuring a fully-stocked bar and a selection of hot and cold canapés.

Flat-bed massage-equipped private suites await passengers in First Class, while in Business Class there is a new generation of all-aisle flat-bed seats, for those travelling on the main deck in Economy Class can stretch out in seats with a pitch of up to 33 inches.

In all classes, there is mood-lighting and ice, the award-winning, inflight entertainment system featuring over 1200 channels of on-demand entertainment, including movies and music in Thai and Cantonese.

Emirates currently operates the A380 from Dubai daily to Paris, Jeddah, Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Sydney, Auckland, Beijing and double daily to London Heathrow. On September 1st, Emirates will begin daily flights with the A380 to Manchester and from 31st October, the aircraft will make a welcome return to the non-stop service between Dubai and New York’s JFK airport.