[AMcWhirter]

I ask because Emirates is running out of room to expand at Heathrow and Gatwick.

Currently Emirates operates twice daily 777-300ER flights into STN but, from past experience, one of these would be a favourite for an A380 upgrade.

Alternatively the carrier could meet demand with a third daily 777-300ER service.

Of course all this assumes travel demand continues to increase and will not be upset by current events in the Middle East.

There’s speculation in the Gulf that flights EK65 and EK66 are likely to become A380 services this summer.

Emirates did bring an A380 into STN three years ago on a football charter and the airport now has a double-airbridge which would assist A380 operations.

https://mediacentre.stanstedairport.com/double-airbridge-boosts-long-haul-capabilities/

[MarkivJ]

EK is always very bullish when it comes to the UK, nowadays even more so with the QR + Doha (becoming a mini ow hub) so I won’t be surprised if they do. And God knows they somehow manage to fill up A380s they send to the UK. I don’t see them increasing capacity or freq in NA (other than JFK perhaps) and I believe they’ve hit their quota in Australia, so they do have A380s they could use or repurpose for UK/EU routes.

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AMcWhirter

[AMcWhirter]

I could be mistaken but somewhere I read CEO Sir Tim Clark quoted as saying the UK (as a whole) was its most lucrative destination.

As we all know it’s not just UK-Dubai it’s the countless number of beyond destinations.

It’s high revenue destinations. From the North. for example, the prime destinations would be SE Asia, Australasia and South Africa.

From Manchester there are three daily flights … all operated by A380s.

[MarkivJ]

And in between London and Manchester, add a daily A380 and daily 77W from Birmingham.

Several of my friends who live in the UK love the Emirates experience, and when I asked them why, especially when they could fly on a superior QR Q-Suite experience, the 2 most responses are cheaper fares and more frequencies to Asia, Africa and Australia. And back to the UK. Plus, a lot of them love the spacious A380 compared to the dreamliners that QR and EK tend to roster on several EU and Asia routes.

In the USA, it’s been a different story. At their peak (like 2015?), they were flying double daily 380 to LAX, double daily 777 to SEA and DFW, etc. But I don’t think they make much money here transporting mostly African and Indian subcontinent passengers back home, so they’ve been consciously reducing or just maintaining capacity (except on routes like Milan – JFK, etc. that I believe got back the A380).

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AMcWhirter, Mark

[stilllovethejumbo]

I just flew to STN and flight was almost empty. I was solo in F, biz was half full and economy similar. They’ve downgraded STN from a gamechanger and looks like that is the case for the foreseeable future… I doubt STN is going to find an upgrade to a 380, I hope that the double daily continues

[MarkivJ]

stilloverthejumbo – that is surprising. But that’s been their MO – start with mounting tons of frequencies and see what happens (“build it and they will come”). I wonder how their LGW routes do.

[cwoodward]

A great strategy if funding and profit are of no object

[Author]

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