Dubai’s Emirates introduces A380 on second Johannesburg service

Dubai carrier Emirates has introduced the Airbus A380 on its second service to South Africa’s Johannesburg

The carrier said the superjumbo began serving the EK762/761 route on December 1, replacing a Boeing 777.

The newly introduced aircraft operates in a three-class configuration with 429 economy seats, 76 business seats and 14 first class seats.

It increases capacity on the route by 14 per cent, according to the carrier.

Emirates flew 700,000 passengers on the Dubai-Johannesburg route in the first 10 months of the year. It operates a total of four daily flights on the route under a codeshare with South African Airways.

The Dubai carrier, which is by far the largest operator of the A380, firmed up the order for 20 aircraft and 16 options in February after months of talks.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates introduces Airbus A380 on Hamburg, Osaka routes

However, there have been reports that the deal is now in a deadlock over issues with the fuel burns of the engines that the new aircraft would use.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates seeks Rolls-Royce A380 engine deal, nothing finalised

Emirates operates more than half of the A380 order book and the February order brought its commitment to 178 worth more than $60bn.