Emirates is set to score a hat-trick as the airline prepares for the launch of three new A380 destinations in three days. “Emirates now has 55 A380s in its fleet, one third of all A380s currently in the skies. Having the ability to launch three new A380 destinations in three days is no small feat. It requires careful planning, multi-department coordination, airport preparedness and above all the tenacity to make it happen,” said Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations West.
“The logistics of launching three new A380 destinations would be, for many, an insurmountable task – but it’s challenges likes this that the team at Emirates relish. Ultimately it is about serving our customers, whom we know are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to experience our A380 based on the demand that we’ve seen on all our A380 routes to date.”
Hitting the high notes first is the San Francisco flight, where Emirates has been flying since 2008. The Bay City is home to the renowned San Francisco Symphony, which Emirates first started sponsoring in 2011.
Kicking off second is Milan, home of AC Milan, the world famous football team which Emirates has sponsored since 2007. Since Emirates launched flights to the city in 2000, the airline has flown 3.1 million people on the route, that’s enough to fill the San Siro stadium 38 times.
Emirates launched its daily service to Houston in 2007, and since then has flown over 1.2 million people on the route. Known as the “Energy Capital of the World” Houston is the last of the trio to take off that week on 3rd December. Between them, the three flights will have travelled 61,784 kilometres to and from Emirates’ A380 hub in Dubai.
With these three up-gauges Emirates’ A380 route network will total 33 destinations, spanning from Auckland in the East to Los Angeles in the West.
It’s been a busy year for the Emirates A380 programme with 11 of these new double-decked aircraft joining the fleet. The airline has also launched nine new A380 destinations in the past 12 months, including Mumbai, Frankfurt, Dallas and Kuwait. Glasgow, Manila, Tehran and Vienna have also seen the Emirates A380 touchdown on their tarmac for a one off showcase in 2014.
