With many changes to airlines, airports, aircraft operations, and routes around the world, the new year is almost here. This also applies to the Airbus A380. Several significant changes have been made to six of the ten airlines that operate the type in recent weeks. Don’t worry, there will be more updates soon. They might add Etihad as a new A380 destination.
The nine big changes
They are displayed below. Two records are involved. First, although only for two months, British Airways will launch a twice daily A380 service to San Francisco.
This is an improvement over the daily double-decker schedule that was previously intended. It will take the place of the Boeing 777-300ER, making the operation exclusively A380.
The number of tickets available for purchase each day will increase by 30% to 1,876, with many more seats available in all cabins, particularly economy (+39%, +342 each day).
Due to the equipment change, its San Francisco service will be marginally less premium, with economy accounting for 65% of seats—a five percentage point increase.
Emirates, however, intends to increase its twice-day double-decker service to Singapore to a record triple daily frequency.
The new high is scheduled for December 2025 (yep, a year away), according to the airline, which has been operating the type there since September 2012. According to the present plan, Singapore will be one of ten Emirates routes with three or more A380 departures per day starting in December.
Warning :- March 30, when northern airlines transition to summer schedules based on IATA slot seasons, is one of several adjustments. There is yet room for more changes for the summer, especially for the upcoming winter.
| Airline | What’s happening? | Comments (as of December 20) |
|---|---|---|
| British Airways | Double daily A380 from London Heathrow between March 30 and May 31 | The airline has never had double daily A380 flights to San Francisco. It’ll be all-A380 in this period. While previously known, it’ll replace Miami, which is double daily A380 during the winter, with Johannesburg having that frequency from June 1 |
| Emirates | While Hong Kong was to have triple daily A380 flights from March 30, the type has been cut to double daily | It was to have been all-A380. Now, the 777-300ER will continue to operate, too |
| Emirates | Singapore flights will be triple daily A380 in December 2025 | It has never had more than a double daily double-decker service to Changi |
| Etihad | Triple daily A380 to London Heathrow from July 1 until September 30, up from twice daily | Last had three daily A380 departures in the peak summer (Q3) in 2019 |
| Korean Air | The A380 will cease being used to Los Angeles on March 30 | It’ll be replaced by another quadjet: the 747-8i. The A380 is scheduled to return for winter at the end of October 2025. Asiana will still use the A380 on the airport pair next summer |
| Korean Air | The A380 will stop being used to New York JFK on March 30 | The 777-300ER will take over |
| Qatar Airways | The A380 won’t serve Doha-Perth from June 25 until October 26 | The 777-300ER will replace it |
| Singapore Airlines | The A380 won’t serve Delhi in January | The A380 returns on February 1. To compensate for the lower capacity in January, Delhi flights rise from double daily to 19 weekly before returning to twice daily in February |
| Singapore Airlines | The A380 won’t serve Mumbai in January | The A380 returns on February 1. To help compensate for the lower capacity in January, Mumbai flights rise from 16 weekly to 19 weekly before reducing to double daily in February |
Singapore Airlines to Mumbai in January
With passenger flights to eight Indian airports, Singapore Airlines is tied with China for the top place when all equipment is taken into account.
In January, the airline operated 19 weekly flights to Mumbai, making it the 22nd most-served route worldwide. The A350-900 and 777-300ER will fly every day in addition to a five-times-weekly 787-10 service, since the A380 will not be flying.