The Airbus A380, renowned as the world's largest passenger aircraft, is typically associated with long-haul flights. However, data from Cirium for December 2024 reveals that some of these aircraft are being utilized on routes covering 2,000 miles or less.
Emirates operates two of the shortest A380 routes from Dubai to Cairo and Dubai to Jeddah. Both routes see a high frequency of 93 flights each in December 2024. These flights are economically viable due to strong demand and the need for large capacity on these regional routes. The Dubai to Cairo route spans approximately 1,500 miles, while the distance to Jeddah is around 1,200 miles.
Cirium's data also highlights another short route from Dubai to Amman at about 1,300 miles with 31 flights scheduled in December. This route will offer a total of 15,134 seats for the month. Emirates uses the A380's seat capacity effectively on these routes to meet passenger demand efficiently.