By IANS
Dubai : Emirates Airline has said it will start operating its new Airbus A380 super jumbo aircraft from Oct 1 to some of its network’s farthest points.
The Dubai-based international airline will operate these aircraft from Dubai to New York from Oct 1, to London Heathrow from Dec 1 and to Sydney and Auckland from Feb 1, 2009.
Each aircraft on these routes would offer 489 seats – 14 in first class, 76 in business and 399 in economy.
“Our A380s will take to the skies in late summer, signalling an end to our long wait and ushering in a new era for Emirates,” the airline’s president Tim Clark said here Sunday.
“We have played an integral role during the design and development stage to tow the aircraft from the drawing board to the production line, and we look forward to bringing them into commercial service.”
He said it has always been the airline’s intention to fly the aircraft on capacity-constrained trunk routes.
Emirates is the leading customer for the A380s with 58 on order and will take delivery of five of the double-decker aircraft this year.
Other configurations in the A380 fleet will feature a medium-range three-class 517-seater and a medium-range two-class aircraft with 604 seats, according to a company statement.
Emirates also announced it would launch services to Cape Town from March 30.
It had earlier stated that it would start flying to Kozhikode in Kerala from July 1.