It looks like Emirates will be deploying its superjumbo Airbus A380 on its Dubai-São Paulo service for a three-week-period next month. The move is a reaction to increased demand during the southern hemisphere's summer season as travelers look for a warm getaway. While most of the airline's A380 fleet remains grounded, the type is increasing its time in the air as travel picks up from historic lows during the worst part of the global crisis.
Three weeks of A380 service to São Paulo
According to the Brazillian website Mestre Das Milhas, the Dubai-based carrier will be using the Airbus A380 to fly passengers between Dubai and São Paulo for three weeks, starting January 9th and going through to January 30th, 2021.
It was also noted that the A380 service will occur four times weekly, which adds up to 12 roundtrip flights with the jet. The reasoning behind this capacity-bump is to handle increased demand during this period - which is summertime in Brazil.
A long time in the air
Indeed, the nearly 7,600-mile distance between Dubai and São Paulo is one of Emirates' longer routes. Flying over the continent of Africa and the Atlantic Ocean, passengers will be spending about 15 hours and 15 flying west to São Paulo (GRU) and 14 hours and 10 minutes heading east to Dubai (DXB).
The lengthy duration of this service makes the Airbus A380 the perfect aircraft to use. This is particularly true with the level of service Emirates is known for. In fact, passengers traveling in business and first class cabins will get to experience the amenities the carrier is best known for having on its A380s. The airline recently brought back first-class showers and the business class bar, news that is sure to please long-haul customers on the upper deck.
The upcoming January service will actually be the first time the A380 has flown to South America since passenger flights were suspended in March due to the worsening health crisis. While the airline resumed passenger service to São Paulo in August 2020, it was with its 'smaller' aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER.
In addition to a recent one-off special flight to Bahrain, Emirates has been flying its A380s to destinations around the world, including the following cities:
- London Heathrow
- Paris Charles de Gaulle
- Cairo
- Moscow Domodedovo
- Manchester
- Amman
- Jeddah
- A triangle route with Guangzhou and Bangkok
A380-lovers everywhere will be glad to hear the quadjet is returning to yet another destination, if only for a little while.
Do you have plans to fly on Emirates' A380s any time soon? Share your plans with us in the comments.
Simple Flying reached out to Emirates for an official statement. However, at the time of publication, no response was received from the airline.