Emirates To Start A380 Frankfurt Services

Emirates will start daily A380 flights to Frankfurt from September 1.

Frankfurt is currently served with a triple daily Boeing 777 operation and from September, EK45 becomes an A380 flight, leaving Dubai at 0825 and arriving in Frankfurt at 1315 and the return double-decker flight, EK46, departs Frankfurt at 1520 and lands in Dubai at 2335 (the other two will remain B777 services).

It’s a significant move for Emirates, which has been eager to add capacity into Germany and build on its double-daily A380s into Munich, but grappled with restricted access – only last week, it flew in an A380 to promote at the ILA Berlin airshow, even if it cannot operate commercial flights to the city.

Thierry Antinori, EVP and chief commercial officer, Emirates said deploying larger capacity aircraft is “central” to helping the airline meet growing passenger demand between one of the Europe’s busiest economic regions and the emerging economies of Asia, Middle East and Africa.

Volker Bouffier, Prime Minister of the German State of Hesse, said Emirates’ A380 service represents “a clear commitment to Frankfurt Airport and its surrounding region facilitating the flow of international tourism and trade”.

Lufthansa has been performing the same role since May 2010, operating its A380s between Frankfurt and Beijing, Houston, Johannesburg, San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo. But with 48 A380s in its fleet, Emirates, the largest operator globally of the Airbus superjumbo, provides German passengers and companies with wider access to global markets.

Emirates also operates nine freighter flights per week to Frankfurt. Over the last five years, over 191,000 tonnes of cargo have been exported from Frankfurt to Dubai and the main outbound commodities include machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronic equipment.