Features

Route of the month - Europe to Johannesburg by A380

22 Aug 2011 by Alex McWhirter
Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers. This month: A380 flights from Europe to Johannesburg. Europeans heading for South Africa will soon have another A380 option to Johannesburg. From October 1, Emirates will launch a daily superjumbo service out of its Dubai base, adding much-needed extra capacity on this route. The Middle Eastern carrier already operates another two daily flights on B777-300ERs. Passengers who choose their flights carefully may also be able to sample Emirates’ A380 when making connections at Dubai from London Heathrow, Manchester, Paris Charles de Gaulle or, from January 1 next year, Munich. Emirates will be competing with Air France and Lufthansa, the only two European carriers operating A380s to Johannesburg. Both use this plane’s economies of scale to mount a single daily flight out of both Paris CDG and Frankfurt. How does Emirates manage to fill three daily flights? It is because Dubai acts as a crossroads for both Europe-Africa and Asia-Africa passengers (see “New world order”). And Emirates can score a point over its European rivals with better utilisation of its expensive-to-purchase superjumbos. Check the schedules below and you will see that its A380 spends only three hours 20 minutes in South Africa before its next call of duty. Contrast that with Air France or Lufthansa, the A380s of which are marooned all day on Johannesburg’s tarmac because if they were to leave the South African city earlier they would fall foul of Europe’s strict airport curfews – another factor that makes our aviation industry less competitive with that of the Gulf. It is true that flying from, say, London to Johannesburg via Dubai is something of a “dogleg” – and the outward flight does have a lengthy transit – but Emirates compensates with attractive fares. More importantly, with more firms opening offices in the UAE, a Dubai stopover might make your trip more cost-effective. All three airlines offer connecting flights via their hubs from cities throughout the UK, mainland Europe and Scandinavia. What Emirates offers Its 489-seat A380 has 14 fully-flat bed suites in first class, 76 fully-flat beds in business and 399 seats in economy class. The premium classes extend right along the A380’s upper deck. Flight EK761 departs Dubai at 0440 to arrive into Johannesburg at 1050. Return service EK762 leaves at 1410 to reach Dubai at 0010. Connecting passengers departing Heathrow take EK002 at 1415, landing into Dubai at 0005. The return connection, EK007, operated by a B777-300, leaves Dubai at 0230 and arrives into Heathrow at 0700. What Air France offers The airline’s 538-seat A380 accommodates nine first class passengers in fully-flat seats downstairs and 80 angled lie-flat business class seats upstairs. Economy class is spread along the lower deck and the rear upper cabin. Air France is converting the upper A380 economy cabin to premium economy imminently – check when booking. Flight AF990 leaves Paris CDG at 2320, arriving into Johannesburg the next morning at 0950. Connecting passengers out of Heathrow take AF1181 at 2010, which reaches CDG at 2220 (there’s an earlier connection, AF2581, at 1800-2010). On the return, flight AF995 departs Johannesburg at 1925 to reach CDG at 0605. Connecting flight AF1680 departs at 0730 and lands into Heathrow at 0750. All of these flights connect in CDG’s Terminal 2E. What Lufthansa offers The German flag carrier operates its A380 in a 526-seat layout. The eight first class (fully-flat) and 98 business class (angled lie-flat) seats occupy the entire upper deck. No fewer than 420 passengers are accommodated on the deck below. Flight LH572 departs Frankfurt at 2245 and reaches Johannesburg at 0910. Return service LH573 departs at 1845 to arrive back in Frankfurt at 0520. You can connect from Heathrow with LH917 (1905-2135), from London City with LH937 (1915-2140) or, from October 30, Gatwick with LH899 (1740-2015). Connections on the return are to London City with flight LH926 (0645-0710), to Heathrow with LH900 (0730-0805) and Gatwick with LH896 (0845-0910). Fares Online return fares including a Saturday night stay during October start from:
  • Emirates: first £4,714, business £1,864, economy £569.
  • Air France: first £8,341, business £1,874, economy £500. Check nearer the time in case premium economy becomes available.
  • Lufthansa: first £4,917, business £2,264, economy £704.
Visit emirates.com, airfrance.co.uk, lufthansa.com
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