According to the Simple Flight website, at a media roundtable held in Doha not long ago, Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airlines, expressed the hope that Airbus can build more large aircraft to meet the "strong rebound in travel" need". In response to the current trend of airlines preferring small long-range aircraft such as the Airbus A321XLR, Tim Clark recognized the advantages of this type of aircraft in terms of fuel efficiency but also pointed out that its more than 200 seats are not enough to carry passengers. meet growing demand. In Tim Clark's view, even the Airbus A350-1000 model has a passenger capacity that is "too small" and large aircraft will be needed in the future to meet the development of the market.
Source: Emirates official
Emirates’ preference for large aircraft is not without reason. According to the Simple Flight website, Tim Clark took London Heathrow Airport as an example. Emirates currently operates 6 A380 flights to London Heathrow Airport every day. Each flight is full, and if To achieve the passenger capacity of an A380 with a medium-sized aircraft, it is necessary to operate approximately 2.5 Boeing 787 aircraft, but this is impossible to achieve when available flight slots are limited. According to Reuters , passengers have praised the A380 for its excellent comfort experience, and its high operating costs have given airlines a headache. However, the A380 is now used on Sydney, Singapore, London and Dubai routes. "People have to admit that the A380 should indeed be reactivated".
Source: Emirates official
In December 2021, Emirates received its 123rd A380, which was also the last A380 manufactured by Airbus. The delivery of this aircraft marks the official history of the production of the world's largest passenger aircraft. Due to insufficient demand, Airbus announced in 2019 that it would cease production of the A380 model after delivering existing orders. The A380, known as the "Big Mac in the sky", has sold more than 250 aircraft worldwide, including British Airways, China Southern Airlines, Singapore Airlines , Lufthansa , Korean Air, Qantas, ANA, Qatar Airways , Thailand Airlines such as China Airlines and Malaysia Airlines all own this aircraft, and Emirates is undoubtedly the largest customer of this model. The reporter learned from Emirates that as of now, a total of 66 A380s of the airline have resumed operation, and this aircraft type is used to fly routes to 34 destinations around the world. In addition, since June 1 this year, Emirates has also deployed its premium economy class product on A380 routes from Dubai to London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Sydney Airport and Christchurch Airport to meet the needs of passengers. Different needs.
Source: Airbus official
In 2020, due to the epidemic, the number of international passengers dropped sharply. Airlines owning A380 aircraft invariably chose to temporarily "save" this "Big Mac". As many countries have loosened their travel policies and consumers' travel demand continues to increase, more and more airlines have also liberated the A380 in their fleets from the "limbo". According to data from ch-aviation, from May 27 to June 2, seven airlines around the world - Emirates, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Qantas, China Southern Airlines and Korean Air - operated A total of 87 A380s fly to 53 destinations. Since late June, ANA, Lufthansa, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines have successively taken back more A380 aircraft that were originally grounded and restarted destination routes operated by them. Next, which airlines will press the restart button on the A380? We'll see!
