Emirates will launch a daily A380 service to Mumbai on July 21, it has been confirmed.
Flights EK500 and EK501 on the Gulf carrier's Dubai to Mumbai route, which are currently operated by a B777-300ER aircraft, will be upgraded to superjumbo service.
The A380 will feature 14 first class suites, 76 business class fully-flat seats and 399 seats in economy. To view a seatplan, click here.
Emirates will also deploy larger B777 aircraft to Delhi and Hyderabad to serve growing demand, resulting in an additional 980 one-way weekly seats to Delhi and an extra 672 one-way weekly seats to Hyderabad.
As previously reported (see news, May 9), the upgrades follow the relaxation of rules by Indian authorities that restricted the use of larger aircraft in order to protect the country's home airlines.
Emirates senior vice president Ahmed Khoory said: "Emirates has been serving India since our founding year in 1985, and it is our largest market today which we serve with 185 flights each week.
"We look forward to working with the new government in India to grow India's economy through enhanced aviation connectivity and to realise India's ambition to grow its international aviation market to 85 million passengers by 2020."
From May 30, Singapore Airlines will also deploy an A380 to both Delhi and Mumbai.
Graham Smith
