Emirates and the A380 – 5 giant years of a giant in the sky

Ugandans as well as Kenyans and Tanzanians, connected to the world by Emirates, can now look back at 5 years of being able to fly from Dubai to their final destination with the Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane today in the skies. From the very first A380 destination by Emirates – where else but to the Big Apple, aka New York on August 1, 2008 – has the destination network grown in leaps and bounds since then and East Africans can now connect through Concourse A, the first ever purpose built airport terminal dedicated to exclusively handle A380 aircraft, to 25 destinations around the world.

From Los Angeles to Auckland. Emirates’ faithful passengers can now reach Amsterdam, Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manchester, Mauritius, Melbourne, Moscow, Munich, New York JFK, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Toronto and Brisbane. Zurich became the newest destination for the Emirates A380 when it was launched on January 8 this year.

Over these last 5 and a bit years, interesting statistics were compiled, all fact but some of them quite quirky come to think of it.

Only yesterday the local Emirates office in Kampala made some of those available and they make interesting reading:

Bread rolls loaded: 14,000,000
Fresh fruit baskets: 22,438
Fresh flower displays: 157,062
Caviar tins (30 grams): 210,477 (6,314 kilograms of 6.314 metric tons)
Shaving kits: 224,414
Toothbrushes: 1,009,767
Cornflake packs: 516,061
Coffee packs: 2,153,988
Teabags: 4,375,237
Sugar packs: 6,731,580
Baby food jars: 538,500

It was, of course, the 6.3 tons of caviar which stood out the most, served to what is arguably the most luxurious First Class Suite anywhere in the skies on a scheduled aircraft, where guests, not just mere passengers, are pampered from check in over the magnificent First Class lounge at Dubai International Airport to their stay on board.

Overall, over 35 million meals were served for over 18 million passengers who had since 2008 flown on the A380, served by crews from all over the world. While Emirates uses this aircraft type now to fly to 25 destinations a total of 37 airports have seen this bird make an appearance, either on special assignment, like airshows, or for instance on unscheduled diversions due to bad weather at the destination.

Emirates East African destinations Entebbe, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam are presently served by B777 and A330/340 aircraft, all of them offering a three class cabin, and passengers increasingly often ask for their onward flight to be booked on an A380 service to experience the sheer opulence in First Class, the luxury in Business Class and the unprecedented space and inflight experience in Economy Class.

Dubai’s award-winning airline is upping their present A380 fleet from 44 by another 13 deliveries this year and still has a further 96 on order, making it the largest A380 operator in the world. Emirates’ new Uganda country manager Thani Abdulla Al Ansari said: “The A380 is a truly remarkable aircraft and is a travel experience in its own right. Since Emirates began flying to Entebbe almost ten years ago, customers here have been able to link into a growing network of cities served by the A380, while making overseas trips as exciting and fun as the final destinations. Our customers love the A380 – from the quieter cabins and spacious layout on the main deck, to the on-board lounge and shower spas in our premium cabins. It is a beautiful aircraft which we have packed full of the best inflight comforts and products. From an operator standpoint, the A380 is still one of the most fuel efficient aircraft per seat.”

Little wonder then that so many travelers from East Africa are today opting to fly with Emirates and are embracing “Hello Tomorrow” today.