Dubai’s Emirates to introduce daily A380 service to Istanbul next month

Dubai’s Emirates will introduce the first scheduled commercial Airbus A380 service to Istanbul, Turkey from October 1.

Emirates will operate the A380 on its daily EK123/124 service. Flight EK123 will depart Dubai at 10.45am and arrive in Istanbul at 2.25pm. The return flight EK124 will depart Istanbul at 4.25pm and arrive in Dubai at 9.50pm. All times are local.

Deploying its three-class A380, Emirates will offer a total of 517 seats, with 14 private suites in first class, 76 mini pods with lie-flat seats in business class and 427 seats in economy class, increasing capacity per flight by more than 150 passengers compared to the current Boeing 777-300ER, a statement said.

Passengers across all classes can access free Wi-Fi, seatback screens and the ‘ice’ inflight entertainment which currently hosts over 4,500 channels.

Emirates will introduce its first-ever scheduled @Airbus A380 service to Istanbul, Turkey from 1 October. Travellers to and from Turkey will have a daily opportunity to experience flying on our iconic double-decker superjumbo. https://t.co/0kWmBGJApI#FlyEmiratesFlyBetter @DXB pic.twitter.com/WCGCOlGugs

— Emirates Airline (@emirates) September 14, 2021

“We are excited to finally bring our flagship to Istanbul to join many other top cities we currently serve with the A380. Since Emirates started operating to Turkey 34 years ago, we have carried six million customers on more than 23,000 flights,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ chief commercial officer.

“Since we moved to our new home at Istanbul Airport on April 6, 2019, Emirates’ A380 entry is another milestone for us. I am proud that the world’s largest A380 operator, Emirates, will operate the Dubai-Istanbul route with their flagship, making it the first ever A380 operation at Istanbul Airport and Turkey. This increase will help to boost traffic between our two nations,” said Majid Khan, vice president aviation development of iGA Istanbul Airport. “In the post-Covid-19 era, through Emirates’ extensive network, it will bring more inbound tourism to Istanbul and Turkey from currently unserved or underserved destinations.”

Emirates is the world’s largest operator of A380s, with 118 currently in its fleet. The carrier has gradually resumed passenger services and will be operating 17 weekly passenger flights from Dubai to Istanbul, including two daily flights and at three time channels – morning, afternoon and evening.

The A380 will operate in the morning and will bring the total weekly capacity on the route to 7,000 seats in each direction, thereby offering travellers greater connections to over 120 destinations.

Emirates customers visiting and travelling through Dubai anytime during the Expo 2020 mega event, will also be eligible to receive a free Emirates Expo Day Pass for every flight ticket booked with the airline. The airline has also recently introduced contactless technology and scaled up its digital verification capabilities to provide customers greater opportunities to utilise the IATA Travel Pass this summer.