The aviation industry is not immune from external events that profoundly shake the entire sector. The Gulf war in 1991, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic are among the most significant events that markedly shattered the dynamics of commercial air traffic. Nonetheless, the aviation industry has always found a way to get back on its feet, or, better said, wings.

Over the last few months, we have witnessed how airlines worldwide have tirelessly worked to ramp up operations and restructure their networks and fleets. One of these airlines is Emirates, whose large fleet of Airbus A380s seemed inappropriate for the post-COVID-19 market dynamics. However, the Gulf carrier is proving everyone wrong, with the giant of the skies coming back to progressively more destinations worldwide.

Emirates Airlines is bringing back the Airbus 380 to Casablanca

Earlier today, Emirates announced that it will reintroduce its flagship aircraft, the Airbus A380, on its route to Casablanca, Morocco. The decision is part of the airline's efforts to progressively ramp up operations to the North African country.

Currently, Emirates is flying the Boeing 777-300ER between its hub, Dubai International Airport (DXB), and Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN). However, starting on April 15th, the Gulf carrier will bring back its flagship Airbus A380 between the two cities, as demand between Dubai and Casablanca has been progressively increasing over the last few months. The flight will be operated as EK75 with a scheduled time of departure (STD) of 03:30 UTC (07:30 local time), and arrival in Casablanca is set at 11:55 UTC (12:55 local time). The returning flight, EK752, will leave Casablanca at 13:45 UTC to reach Dubai International at 21:15 UTC the next day.

Find flights between Dubai and Casablanca here.

The Airbus A380 is a testament to the partnership between Dubai and Morocco

More often than one might expect, aviation reflects the socioeconomic and political relationships between two countries.

By bringing back the Airbus A380 to Casablanca, Emirates and the Government of Dubai are expressing their support to the North African country in its effort to reinvigorate its tourism industry. Indeed, by deploying the largest commercial aircraft ever built to Morocco, Emirates will significantly enhance seat capacity to the city of Casablanca.

Simultaneously, more capacity will be deployed from Morocco to Dubai, increasing options for both the leisure and business travel segments to connect to the Gulf city and beyond to the Middle East and Asia. An industry-related proof of the positive relationship between Morocco and Dubai is the commercial alliance between Morocco's flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc, and Emirates, which was enhanced to a codeshare last year, thus strengthening both airlines' presence in the respective countries and areas of influence.

Emirates and its progressive effort to repopulate the skies with the Airbus 380

Since countries worldwide have started to remove COVID-19 travel restrictions progressively, demand for air travel has been consistently on the rise, to the point that the International Air Transport Association, IATA, forecasts the whole industry to return to a profit in 2023.

Based on the pent-up demand for air travel, airlines have started to reactivate their long-haul, widebody fleets. Emirates, for example, is operating the Airbus A380 to 40 destinations; however, by the end of summer 2023, the giant of the skies is expected to be flown to 50 destinations, i.e., 90% of Emirates' pre-pandemic Airbus A380 network.

According to ch-aviation, Emirates has reactivated 86 of its 116 Airbus A380s. The average age of the airline's giant aircraft is eight years, and Emirates' Airbus A380 fleet offers a total capacity of 60,465 seats. As can be seen in the table below, Emirates Airlines leads the way as the largest operator of the Airbus A380 in the world.

Do you believe the Airbus A380 still has a role to play in modern commercial aviation? Let us know by clicking on the comment button below!

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