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Hot on the heels of announcing that it will begin flying the Airbus A380 to Perth, Australia later this year, Emirates has also publicized its intentions to fly the superjumbo to the Indian city of Bengaluru. From late October, the double-decker quadjet will operate one of three daily rotations to Bengaluru from Dubai.

The first airline to do so

As the world's largest Airbus A380 operator, Emirates has been involved in plenty of firsts when it comes to the superjumbo's usage. Later this year, on October 30th, it will make history once again by being the first airline to fly the four-engine behemoth to Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) in southern India.

Operating once a day, the outbound flight will depart Emirates' Dubai International Airport (DXB) hub at 21:25, and touch down in Bengaluru at 02:30 local time the following morning. After a two-hour turnaround, the A380 will be back in the skies at 04:30, with its scheduled arrival into Dubai being 07:10. The airline states that:

"The aircraft upgrade will allow customers traveling to and from the South Indian city to enjoy its signature services across a broader network. Bengaluru will be the second city in India to be served by the iconic Emirates A380 aircraft, with customers enjoying the signature experience on the Dubai – Mumbai route since 2014."

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Three classes of travel

Being the operator of the largest Airbus A380 fleet in the world, Emirates has several different seating configurations available when it comes to the superjumbo. These range from a two-class, high-density setup (that seats more than 600 passengers) to a four-class affair that features its new premium economy cabin.

As it happens, Emirates' superjumbo-operated services to Bengaluru will fall somewhere in between. Indeed, it states that "the daily A380 flights will operate as EK568/569 with an aircraft in a three-class configuration, offering seats in economy class, in addition to premium cabins in business class and first class."

According to SeatGuru, Emirates has two three-class setups on its A380s. While both have 14 first class suites and 76 business class flatbeds onboard, they differ in terms of their economy class capacity. Indeed, while some examples can seat 399 economy passengers, others have a more populous 427-seat economy cabin.

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The Boeing 777 will remain present on the route

Bengaluru is far from a new destination for Emirates, with the carrier having flown there since 2006. The airline's existing services make use of its twin-engine Boeing 777s, which, from October 30th, will continue to fly twice a day alongside the A380s daily rotations. Flights EK564/5 see a mix of the 777-200LR and the -300ER.

These flights are a morning rotation, leaving Dubai at 03:40 and landing in Bengaluru at 08:50. The return flight departs southern India at 10:25, touching down in the UAE at 13:00. Meanwhile, flights EK566/7 are solely operated by the larger 777-300ER, with the outbound service departing Dubai at 13:35 and landing at 18:35. The return iteration takes off at 20:20, touching down at 23:00.

What do you make of Emirates' plans to deploy the A380 on its Dubai-Bengaluru route? Have you ever flown on one of the carrier's superjumbos? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!