Emirates to introduce second A380 service out of Birmingham Airport

Emirates is to introduce a second A380 service out of Birmingham Airport to Dubai – the announcement comes just weeks after the company revealed it was reducing its service level on the route.

Earlier this month, the airline confirmed it would be suspending one of its three flights out of Birmingham from September as part of an operational review.

Flight EK39/40 is currently operated by a Boeing 777, however, the capacity reduction from the loss of the third flight will not be as great as first thought as the A380 – the world’s largest passenger plane – has provision for 615 seats.
The second A380 service will start on October 29.

“Emirates’ decision to use a double-daily A380 service was in part driven by huge demand from passengers to travel on the iconic aircraft,” said the airline.

Since the first A380 service from Dubai to Birmingham launched in March last year, more than 300,000 passengers have already flown on the aircraft between the two cities.

As with the current A380 used on the route, the new aircraft will operate in a two class configuration, featuring 58 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 557 seats in Economy Class.

The route is a popular one with the region’s business community not just because of its connection with the Middle East but also the onward connection to China.

Emirates started flying to Birmingham in December 2000 as a daily service to Dubai, operated by a 278-seat Airbus A330. Since then, the airline has carried more than 5.2 million passengers between the two destinations.

The airline said an important segment of the route were the international students who travel to Birmingham every year to attend its schools and universities.