Quantcast

Emirates expands premium economy A380 service across key global destinations

Airline CEO wants airports to cap passengers at 2 alcoholic drinks to limit on-board disruptions
Emirates Will Buy 5 Airbus A380s From Lessor For $200 Million
Delta Air Lines named official airline of the WNBA
Pair Of C-Suite Officials Depart Wheels Up
LAX Receives Final Cars for People Mover Train
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merger clears Justice Department hurdle, now faces DOT
Alaska Airlines flight attendants reject new contract, union says there's 'more work to do'
Elliott Investment To Push For 10 New Boardroom Directors At Southwest Airlines
Alaska Air Backs JetZero Blended-Wing Design
AI in Aviation Line Maintenance: A Strategic Response to Delays, Satisfaction, and Staffing Challenges
Air taxi service plans for 2026 Los Angeles launch at USC, SoFi and LAX
VistaJet Flight Brings Home Americans in Prisoner Swap
Air Canada Blames Paris Olympics On Decreased Profits
Delta passengers sue airline over refund refusals after CrowdStrike meltdown
Microsoft fires back at Delta after massive outage, says airline declined ‘repeated’ offers for help
Korean Air Confirms A Spacious Lounge Is Coming To The New Terminal One at New York JFK
VAS Aero Services to Acquire an Additional 17 Airbus A320 Airframes, Bringing to 23 the Total Number of A320s Slated for Teardown and Harvested Parts Redistribution
Delta CEO says CrowdStrike-Microsoft outage cost the airline $500 million
Boeing Reports $16.9 Billion In Revenue For 2nd Quarter With 5,400 Commercial Aircraft Backlog
United Airlines says flight attendant in Terrell Davis incident is no longer employed and NFL legend’s ‘no fly’ ban is lifted | CNN
Nepal Plane Crash Kills 18 After Takeoff - Airline Ratings
Southwest Airlines is getting rid of open seating | CNN Business
CrowdStrike Outage Caused 10% Spike in Air Charter
Aircraft Engine Maintenance and Repair to Peak in 2026, Worsening Capacity Shortage for Commercial Aviation, Says Bain & Company
Joby’s Electric Air Taxi Makes European Debut
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announces NLRB-scheduled vote to remove union officials
Families recount the horror of MH17 ten years on - Airline Ratings
777-9 Enters Certification Flight Testing - AVweb
Kompass Kapital Sets New Course with Airshare Investment
SATS, SIA Engineering Company and Changi Airport Group to Trial Autonomous Buses at Changi Airport
Emirates expands premium economy A380 service across key global destinations
Policy
Webp emirates
Tim Clark, President of Emirates | Emirates Airlines

Emirates continues to expand the deployment of its four-class Airbus A380s, which feature premium economy cabins, across a growing list of international destinations. The airline currently operates 116 Airbus A380 aircraft, although not all are in active service. Of these, 40 superjumbos have been fitted with a four-class layout since the introduction of premium economy in 2021.

There are three seating configurations for Emirates’ four-class A380s: 468, 484, and 487 seats. These aircraft will serve 24 airports from October to December this year. Some routes will see the four-class equipment for the first time; for example, Perth is scheduled to receive it starting October 19, with frequency reducing to one daily flight on October 26. Emirates’ daily New York JFK service via Milan Malpensa will switch from three-class to four-class aircraft equipped with premium economy on November 10.

London Heathrow remains the leading destination for Emirates' four-class A380 services. Four out of six daily departures between Dubai and Heathrow use these aircraft; the other two flights use higher-capacity A380s without premium economy but with more seats in economy class. The specific configuration used may vary during the quarter—for instance, the lowest-capacity (468-seat) version is scheduled only through October 25 before being replaced by a larger configuration.

Get the Newsletter
Sign-up to receive weekly round up of news from Sky Industry News
By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By providing your phone number you are opting in and consenting to receive recurring SMS/MMS messages, including automated texts, to that number from our short code. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to end. SMS opt-in will not be sold, rented, or shared.

Other major destinations include Melbourne and Sydney (with some flights continuing to Christchurch), each seeing two-thirds of their services operated by four-class A380s. Milan Malpensa also receives up to two daily flights with these aircraft starting November 10, one of which continues onward to New York JFK.

From December 1, all three daily Dubai–New York JFK flights will offer premium economy on board.

The latest reconfigured six-aircraft fleet with the lowest seat count—468 seats—features updated products and fewer total seats than any other Emirates superjumbo layout: “There are 14 seats in first (1-2-1), 76 in business (1-2-1), 56 in premium economy (2-4-2; 40"), and just 322 in economy (3-4-3; 32").” Between October and December, this version will operate from Dubai to Brisbane, London Heathrow, Manchester, Milan Malpensa (October 16 only), New York JFK, Nice, Osaka Kansai, Perth, Singapore (December 21 only), and Zurich. Brisbane and Nice are set to have a daily service using this specific configuration throughout the quarter.

Dubai International Airport serves as Emirates’ main hub and is among the busiest globally for widebody operations as well as long-haul traffic.

“Four of its six daily departures are on it,” referring to London Heathrow’s schedule according to Emirates. “They’ll then switch to the 487-seater,” reflecting planned changes later in the quarter.

Emirates was founded in 1985 and operates as a full-service carrier under CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Organizations Included in this History
More News

Alaska Airlines has announced a significant expansion of its route network for 2026, with plans to introduce service to two new cities and launch 13 new or returning routes.

Oct 25, 2025

Delta Air Lines will introduce new in-flight menu options created by celebrity chef José Andrés starting November 4.

Oct 25, 2025

The Blue Sky partnership between United Airlines and JetBlue launched today, allowing members of both airlines’ loyalty programs to earn and redeem points across the two carriers.

Oct 25, 2025

Air Canada is set to expand its presence at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) by introducing four new nonstop routes to the United States in 2026.

Oct 25, 2025

United Airlines has announced it will add 10 new destinations from its Chicago O'Hare International Airport hub starting next year.

Oct 25, 2025

The partnership between United Airlines and JetBlue, known as Blue Sky, has officially launched.

Oct 25, 2025