Emirates is to add the A380 superjumbo to its Dubai-Sao Paulo route from March 26.
The daily service is currently operated by B777-300ER aircraft, and the switch will add 959 seats per week to the route.
The move follows fellow Gulf carrier Etihad’s decision to drop flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo, also from March 26, with the airline citing “The current economic crisis in Brazil together with the sharp depreciation of the Brazilian currency”.
Emirates first launched flights to Sao Paulo ten years ago this October, and added a daily service between Dubai and Rio in 2012.
Emirates will be the first carrier to offer a scheduled A380 flight to South America – the airline carried out a one-off superjumbo flight to Sau Paulo’s Guarulhos International airport in 2015.
Commenting on the new Gustavo Figueiredo, CEO of Guarulhos International airport said:
“We made significant investments to upgrade the facilities at GRU Airport – São Paulo International Airport in order to make it A380-compatible. We are very excited about Emirates’ decision to deploy the first A380 in South America to our airport.”
Emirates now has over 90 A380s in its fleet, with a further 50 on order. The carrier will also add the superjumbo to its Dubai-Narita and Dubai-Casablanca routes from March 26.
