Emirates Airbus A380 will return to Glasgow and Birmingham

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Jan 13, 2023

Emirates extends its Airbus A380 global operations. The Dubai-based airline resumes service with the iconic double-decker for Glasgow Airport (GLA) and Birmingham Airport (BHX) in the UK later this year.

Resumption of A380 services

Emirates did not fully resume its Airbus A380 capacity levels before the pandemic. As of January 2023, the largest operator of this double-decker model operates 928 weekly flights with the A380, 22.9% below January 2019 levels, offering 18.5% fewer seats, according to Cirium data. . But that is changing slowly but surely.

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On Friday, Emirates announced it would expand its A380 operations to the UK. The iconic aircraft will return to Glasgow on March 26 and to Birmingham on July 1. Earlier this week, Emirates has announced that it will deploy the A380 to Taipei again after a hiatus of 41 months.

Richard Jewsbury, Divisional Vice-Chairman of Emirates UK, said:

“The A380 is an iconic aircraft, and it is fantastic that we will soon be able to welcome even more passengers on our UK services, connecting to a growing global network. In addition to passengers, these new services signal also an increase in our freight capacity, which will provide much-needed capacity for all kinds of businesses that depend on fast global logistics.

Currently, Emirates operates 14 weekly flights to Birmingham and seven to Glasgow, according to Cirium data.

A second daily service to London Stansted

Emirates has also announced that it will resume its second daily service to London Stansted Airport (STN) from May 1. The airline will use its Boeing 777-300ER widebody jet, it said.

With the return of the second daily flight to Stansted, Emirates will step up operations to London with 11 daily flights. This includes six times a day to London Heathrow and three times a day to Gatwick.

Currently, Emirates operates 129 weekly flights to the UK. Emirates serves Birmingham (14 weekly flights), Glasgow (seven), London Gatwick (21), London Heathrow (42), Manchester (21), Newcastle (seven) and Stansted (seven).

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | single flight

Emirates Airbus A380 operations worldwide.

The Dubai-based carrier currently has a fleet of 262 aircraft. Emirates has 116 Airbus A380-800s, of which 86 are currently active and 30 inactive, according to data from ch-aviation. The airline also has ten Boeing 777-200 (LR), 11 Boeing 777-200F and 124 Boeing 777-300 (ER).

Earlier this month, Emirates rolled out its first fully refurbished Airbus A380 as part of the airline’s $2 billion refurbishment programme. The airline used this aircraft on the Dubai-London Heathrow service. It featured the premium economy cabin and the latest cabin interiors from Emirates, including lighter color schemes in first and business class. The airline also plans to scale up its four-class A380 operations with premium economy cabins to more than 35 destinations in 20 countries by March 2024.

Currently, Emirates flies to 39 destinations from Dubai using the Airbus A380, according to Cirium. In 2019, he flew to 48 destinations with this aircraft. Some destinations that still do not have A380 service are Vienna, Prague, Nice, Osaka, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Barcelona.

Are you looking forward to seeing the Emirates Airbus A380 again in Glasgow and Birmingham? Let us know in the comments below.