Emirates, Qatar Airways & Singapore Airlines Make Big Changes To Airbus A380 Routes

Posted by Admin October 28, 2024 World

Each week, airlines worldwide submit schedule changes—new routes, cut routes, frequency changes, equipment swaps, etc.—to Cirium and OAG. Booking websites are then updated. The latest filing shows five changes to Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines routes.

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As always, things could easily change again. As such, this article provides a snapshot of the situation as of October 28.

Emirates’ changes

Emirates, which will fly its superjumbos to 51 destinations from Dubai this winter, has halved the planned number of non-stop A380 flights to Hong Kong. It had scheduled a double daily non-stop operation from January 1 onward, but it’ll now be daily.

Photo: Arnold Aaron | Shutterstock

The new schedule is as follows, with all times local. Aptly, the EK380 flight number will still see the equipment. The 517-seat A380 is scheduled, which has 14 first class seats, 76 business seats, and 427 economy seats. EK382/EK383 will now be operated by the 360-seat Boeing 777-300ER, meaning 30% fewer seats per departure. It’ll help with winter loads, fares, and yields.

Dubai-Hong Kong: ~~EK382, 03:30-14:45~~; EK380 (!), 10:40-21:50
Hong Kong-Dubai: EK381, 00:35-05:40; ~~EK383, 18:00-23:05~~

Emirates also uses the A380 to Hong Kong on a fifth freedom basis via Bangkok (daily), which is unchanged. Thus, the total number of winter Hong Kong A380 flights has been reduced from triple daily—a frequency last seen in February 2020—to double daily.

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Then there’s Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways returned the double-decker quadjet to Doha-Paris CDG in May 2023. After one-off flights on November 24 and December 1, 2024, the 517-seat type was scheduled to operate until at least June 2025. However, CDG’s three times weekly A380 flights will now end sooner than planned.

Qatar Airways Airbus A380 landing at SYD shutterstock_1717417567

Photo: Seth Jaworski | Shutterstock

The latest information shows that the superjumbo service will cease on March 29, the day before northern airlines switch to summer schedules based on IATA slot seasons.

From April, the A380 was to leave Doha at 08:35 (QR39) and arrive home at 23:50 (QR40). Unsurprisingly, these times correspond to Qatar Airways’ largest quantity of European departures/arrivals, meaning maximum connectivity.

The 354-seat non-first-class 777-300ER will replace the double-decker next summer, providing 32% fewer seats per departure. This will help with winter loads, fares, and yields. It is unclear where the freed-up A380 will be flown.

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What about Singapore Airlines?

In the latest update, Singapore Airlines made three changes to its A380 network:

London Heathrow was to continue having a double daily 471-seat A380 operation, which has been reduced to daily from February 1 to March 29. The daytime Europe-bound service will now be on the 264-seat 777-300ER, meaning 43% fewer seats per take-off, but the overnight service to the UK will still be on the A380.
Sydney A380 flights are reduced from double daily to daily in May. The 20:20 departure from Changi (SQ221) and the 11:00 take-off from New South Wales (SQ232) will be on the 777-300ER.
Tokyo Narita was to see the A380 on March 30, but this has been pushed back to May 1. It’ll leave Changi at 23:55 (SQ638) and return at 17:20 (SQ637). The 777-300ER will be flown in the intervening period.