The Airbus A380-800 is also known as the “King of the Skies”. As the number of A380s in the sky are getting increasingly lower every year, here are some destinations that you can spot the A380, or fly to, in case you want to fly on them one last time before they are gone for good.
By: Yu Le
Published on: 16 April 2024, 8.00pm (GMT +8)
The A380 is still operating under 10 major airlines. Photo: Emirates
The A380, also known as the “King of the Skies”, is a quadjet powered by either the Rolls Royce Trent 900 or the GE/P&W GP7200. When the A380 was introduced after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the market was already not right for the A380 because of major changes in the aviation sector. Due to excessive capacity and high operating expenses, not many airlines were fond of the A380.
In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the few airlines that still flew the aircraft started to retire their A380s, citing unprofitability, and this was just further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many airlines grounding their A380s due to extremely low traffic volume. Even as the aviation industry gradually gets over the impact of the pandemic, many airlines are still opting to keep their A380s grounded or even retire them. The largest operator of the A380, Emirates, seeks to retire their flagship aircraft starting in the late 2030s and replace them with more modern jets. So, where are the remaining fewA380s flying this summer?
Emirates
Emirates currently operate a fleet of 123 A380-800s. Photo: Haotian/Project AeroFlight
Emirates, the biggest operator of the A380, will fly to roughly 30 countries worldwide with around 75 daily departures. The Dubai-based carrier will have ⅓ of its routes covered by the A380 this season. Because of the sheer amount of A380s Emirates operates, Dubai is responsible for nearly ⅔ of the world’s A380 traffic.
Frequency | Locations |
6 daily | London Heathrow |
5 daily | Bangkok |
3 daily | Cairo, Jeddah, Manchester, New York JFK, Paris, Sydney |
2 daily | London Gatwick (3 daily from 1 August 2024), Mauritius, Melbourne, Milan, Moscow, Munich |
Daily | Auckland, Amman, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bengaluru, Birmingham, Brisbane (Twice daily service from 1 October 2024), Christchurch, Casablanca, Denpasar, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Houston, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mumbai, Nice, Osaka (From 1 June 2024), Perth, Rome, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo Narita, Toronto, Vienna, Washington Dulles, Zurich |
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines operate 10 A380s currently. Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis/Shutterstock
The second largest operator of the A380, Singapore Airlines, uses the A380 on high density medium to long haul routes. Only 7 destinations will see SQ’s A380s this season. A few routes have been removed, but a shocking first of Dubai has been added (albeit only for two roundtrips)
Frequency | Locations |
2 daily | London Heathrow, Sydney |
Daily | Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Mumbai, New Delhi |
Others | Dubai |
Qantas
Qantas operates its A380 to only 4 destinations. Photo: Haotian/Project AeroFlight
As of February 2024, Qantas has 10 A380s left in service. The A380 serves 7 routes, including the famous Kangaroo Route of Sydney → Singapore → London. Most of these routes originate from Sydney.
Originating from Sydney
Frequency | Locations |
2 daily | Singapore, London (via Singapore) |
Daily | Hong Kong, Los Angeles |
Originating from Melbourne
Frequency | Locations |
4 weekly | Los Angeles |
British Airways
British Airways will only operate 4 routes with the A380. Photo: British Airways
As of April 2024, British Airways has 12 A380s left in service. These flights are all daily and merely 4 destinations will see the BA A380 this summer, 3 of which are in the US.
Frequency | Locations |
Daily | Dallas, Johannesburg, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Singapore |
Korean Air
Korean Air only operates 2 routes with the A380. Photo: Vincenzo Pace/Simple Flying
Korean Air currently has 5 out of the 10 A380s they have in service, with the rest having a possibility of returning back to service. Their A380s will eventually be phased out by 2026 along with Asiana’s. The A380 has been removed from the Incheon-JFK route temporarily as the Korean flag carrier wants to focus on the Incheon-Los Angeles route.
Frequency | Locations |
2 daily | Los Angeles |
5 weekly | New York JFK (Temporarily Suspended) |
Asiana Airlines
Asiana will operate their A380s until around 2026. Photo: Vincenzo Pace/Simple Flying
The Incheon-based carrier currently has 6 A380s left in service, with plans to phase them out by 2026 with the merger of Asiana Airlines and Korean Air. Only 2 destinations will be served by the A380s this season.
Frequency | Locations |
Daily | Sydney, Los Angeles |
Qatar Airways
Qatar is one of the three middle eastern carriers operating the Superjumbo. Photo: Business Insider
Another middle eastern carrier which operates the A380, but unlike Emirates, Qatar’s former CEO actually thought that purchasing the A380 was a bad decision. These aircraft will be replaced soon in the time to come. One notable change is that the Doha <-> Bangkok route will be halved in frequency. Half of the 4 destinations that will see Qatar’s A380s are Australian cities.
Frequency | Locations |
2 daily | London |
Daily | Bangkok, Perth, Sydney |
Etihad Airways
Etihad is another middle-eastern carrier operating the A380. Photo: The Points Guy
The 3rd middle eastern carrier on the list, Etihad had all of its A380s grounded during the pandemic. Only 1 A380 is currently in service and is currently used exclusively to London Heathrow. New York JFK flights have also been announced late 2023 to start in April 2024.
Frequency | Locations |
3 daily | London |
Daily | New York JFK (Starting 22 April 2024) |
Lufthansa
Lufthansa is one of the only two European airlines operating the A380. Photo: REUTERS
One of the two European operators of the A380, Lufthansa is known to keep aircraft that other airlines are retiring longer. The A380 is no expectation, with many of its 8 A380s in service and expected to remain in service till at least 2030. All of Lufthansa’s A380 flights originate from Munich.
Frequency | Locations |
Daily | Boston, Delhi, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Washington Dulles |
All Nippon Airways
ANA operates the A380 exclusively on the Narita-Honolulu route with the "Flying Honu". Photo: Sam Chui
ANA operates its 3 turtle-themed Superjumbos, nicknamed the "Flying Honu", exclusively on the Tokyo Narita-Honolulu route. This is quite an inefficient fleet of A380s. These beautiful aircraft are quite new and the first one came into service in 2019.
Frequency | Locations |
2 Daily | Honolulu |
Most Frequented A380 Destinations
London Heathrow, undoubtedly one of the busiest and most popular destinations, is topping the list for airports most frequented by the A380s, with almost every single A380 operator having multiple daily flights to London. Singapore Changi, another busy airport, is also a superjumbo hub, seeing many daily scheduled flights there as well, such as the British Airways A380s, Qantas A380s, Singapore Airlines A380s, as well as Emirates A380s.
Conclusion
The already low number of A380s is diminishing, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now however, there are still A380 flights operating to some destinations. This might change soon though, as most airlines will start phasing out their A380s in the late 2020s and early 2030s. Take the King of the Skies when you have a chance!
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