Emirates has announced the removal of the Airbus A380 from eight city routes for the rest of the year.
This announcement shines a light on the dwindling levels of demand in regards to air travel as the aviation industry still recovers from the effects of COVID-19.
This is only one of several other adjustments to be made to the Gulf carrier’s A380 network, which primarily include postponements, frequency cuts, and more.
The eight routes that’ll no longer be served by Emirates’ A380
The cities that won’t be seeing the Emirates A380s, detailed below, showcase how disproportionally hit Asia is. This was to be expected, however, as the continent’s COVID-19 recovery proves much slower than Europe and the Americas.
China especially, who appears to prefer to declare the country COVID-19 free before opening up properly to international travel, has been especially slow in post-global lockdown recovery.
Beijing (PEK); Birmingham, UK (BHX); Copenhagen (CPH); Hong Kong (HKG); Nice (NCE); Prague (PRG); Shanghai (PVG); Tokyo (NRT).
Three of the European routes that were cancelled – Birmingham, Prague, and Copenhagen – were axed due to low demand that was not exclusively because of slow progress in post COVID recovery.
As a result, the routes couldn’t sustain the higher premium offering of the A380s, nor the higher volume of seats that couldn’t be filled due to a lack in demand.
Instead, those routes will be served by the simpler and more accommodating Boeing 777-300ERs.
Emirates pulled and reinstated the A380 from US routes
In 2020, the UAE-based airline carrier pulled the A380 from flying in North America.
The move caused popular routes between Dubai, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington DC to be pulled until at least 27 March 2021.
Then, from 1 July 2021, Emirates restored the A380 to its US Summer schedule by reinstating routes between New York, Washington Dulles, and Los Angeles.
This goes to show that the aviation industry is constantly changing, especially as the industry continues to recover from the immense COVID setback.
It is possible for the A380 to make a return to the 8 cities it’s been axed from much sooner than we think.
Emirates was in the news recently after announcing intentions to cancel its order for 155 Boeing 777X aircrafts if the manufacturer further delayed expected first deliveries beyond 2023.
What do you think of the changes? Let us know!
