Emirates adds 5 A380s ahead of summer travel rush, plans A350 routes

Emirates expressed its optimism for the summer season in terms of the strong recovery with full occupancy rates on a large number of flights within its global network of destinations.

The Dubai-based international air carrier revealed that it is adding five new Airbus A380s to the summer flights schedule, to serve more routes amid the continuing momentum in customer demand after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emirates summer travel plans

Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer, said customer demand is still witnessing strong levels, and it is expected that 2023 will be a year of robust recovery, exceeding the levels recorded during 2022.

Kazim said Emirates is deploying a fleet of 85 A380s which increases to 95 in summer peak season.

The large wide-body airliner is serving 43 destinations in the summer flights schedule, he added.

He said that the airline operates about 3,080 departure flights per week, or more than 440 flights per day for passengers within its global network.

He revealed that the Emirates is currently considering adding more capacity to the North American market and other global markets such as China, in conjunction with the deployment of more aircraft into service and also the delivery of the first aircraft from its order for the Airbus A350.

Kazim said that Emirates is planning to debut flights to five new cities:

• London
• Christchurch
• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Auckland

San Francisco (July 15), Singapore (June 1) and Houston (June 15) will also be added.

Emirates is part of the sustainability initiatives taking place in the UAE, as efforts to reduce carbon footprint are increasing in line with the growth in passenger numbers, he said.

The airline has successfully completed a demonstration flight powered by 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), as part of the global aviation industry’s push to use more of the greener fuel to meet carbon emission targets.