Article from BTNews 8 MAY 2017
Emirates’ all-A380 plan
Competition on the important route between Melbourne and the rest of the world is hotting up, with Emirates’ planning to provide an all-A380 service from 25 March next year when it upgrades its third daily flight from a B777-300ER. The news came in the same week Eithad announced a similar move on its services to Melbourne.
The Emirates decision will add 945 seats a week to the route, representing a 10% increase in capacity and meaning Emirates passengers can enjoy even more seamless “A380 to A380” connections via its hub in Dubai to 18 points in the UK and Europe.
Emirates, which has a joint partnership with Qantas, said the additional weekly seats on the route would support more business as well as leisure travel between Dubai and Melbourne.
In addition, together with Qantas’ new B787 London – Melbourne service via Perth, beginning on 24 March 2018, passengers now had more options to the UK and Europe.
Emirates’ A380 offers 489 seats in a three-class configuration with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 399 seats in Economy, with all classes having access to the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system.
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John Davidson, France/Paris
The A380 production rate in Toulouse is a single aircraft per month. While the B747 is down to four a year (barring new cargo orders), it is insightful to see that such a new aircraft with such supposedly attractive features is drawing so little interest from airlines. Emirates has an ego bigger than most divinities, explaining its thirst for the A380. But most airlines want point-to-point, not hub-to-hub, making the B787 a success. Its backlog far outshines the A380's. And no US airline has ordered an A380. The plane requires significant infrastructure modifications, to terminal and taxi ways. A BA A380 took such a long route from gate to take-off at IAD that I thought the pilot had got lost. And this after they had to delay departure first for half an hour, then an hour, etc., because of an engine problem. That's like back surgery. You want a doctor who's done a lot before you give him/her your spine to operate on. Idem for A380 engines at IAD — how many do ground crew see a day? BA of course says they're certified. Just as a back surgeon has an MD. But nothing beats experience.