First Scheduled A380 flight in the US!

Aviation Aviation News
1

It will be New York JFK to Dubai, on Emirates. Of course, I mean first scheduled commerical flight.

ANN NEWS RELEASE:
Air travelers will be able to experience Emirates’ first-ever Airbus A380 on August 1, when the airline launches its first A380 commercial service from Dubai to New York JFK. The 14-hour non-stop flight will also be the first-ever commercial A380 service to the United States.

“The United States represent a key focus area in Emirates’ route development plans, and we are delighted to be the first airline to launch commercial A380 services to the continent,” said Emirates CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum. “We are confident that Emirates’ customers traveling to and from North America will welcome the A380’s additional space and capacity, as well as our luxurious onboard amenities which will provide a very high quality travel experience previously associated only with private jets.”

Emirates recently announced it will start daily non-stop service from Los Angeles to Dubai on September 1, and from San Francisco to Dubai on October 26. In addition to the twice-daily service from JFK, the airline has daily non-stop service from Houston to Dubai with its current Boeing 777 fleet.

Powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines, Emirates’ A380s can fly up to 7,456 miles on a full load and offer better fuel economy per passenger mile than most hybrid passenger cars. The Engine Alliance is a joint venture of General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. The A380 is also quieter, both inside and outside of the cabin, which means more comfort for passengers.

On August 1-3, Emirates will operate its brand-new A380 aircraft between Dubai and New York JFK on a commercial basis. These will be additional flights to its existing twice-a-day non-stop service. From August 8 onwards, Emirates will operate its A380 three times a week on its New York-Dubai route (EK201/EK202) on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays.

Emirates expects delivery of five A380s in its current financial year, all featuring its ultra long-haul configuration of 489 seats: 14 in First Class, 76 in Business and 399 in Economy; with 13 tons of bellyhold capacity for cargo. After New York, these aircraft are slated to operate on Emirates’ routes from Dubai to London Heathrow and Sydney-Auckland.

The airline is the largest single customer for the A380, with 58 planes on order. As ANN reported last week, Emirates will receive its first superjumbo July 28

2

First flights:
UAE3801
UAE3802
UAE3803

Anybody know what the regular flight numbers will be?

Washington Post Article (click here for full article)

Airbus superjumbo lands at New York’s JFK

By Bill Rigby
Reuters
Friday, August 1, 2008; 5:26 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Airbus’s A380 superjumbo touched down at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday, marking the first commercial arrival of the giant, double-decker passenger plane on U.S. soil.

The Emirates (EMAIR.UL) aircraft, carrying 489 passengers, landed smoothly and on time after a 12-1/2 hour flight from Dubai.

The Gulf-based carrier, owned by the government of Dubai, is the second airline to put the A380 into service, following Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), which started A380 flights to Sydney in October.

The plane, costing $327 million at list prices, did visit New York and Los Angeles in March last year for route-testing purposes, but Friday’s flight was the first regularly scheduled arrival of an A380 in the United States.

3

The Emirates Timetable shows the following information:

JFK to DXB:
5 1100 DXB 1645 JFK EK3801 380/JY 0
01Aug-01Aug
7 1100 DXB 1645 JFK EK3803 380/JY 0
03Aug-03Aug

DXB to JFK:
3 2100 JFK 1745 + DXB EK3804 380/JY 0
06Aug-06Aug
5 2100 JFK 1745 + DXB EK3802 380/JY 0
01Aug-01Aug

4

I wonder what other US airports may see A380 service in the future. I am guessing:

LAX
SFO
ORD
IAD?

5

It may be difficult to get an economic payload to LAX and SFO, both over 7000 nm/8000 mi.

6

LAX will get A380 service from Qantas. Here’s the initial schedule from Qantas:

Melbourne Los Angeles QF93, 94
On selected flights from 20 October 2008

  • Service departs Monday from 20 October
  • Service departs Monday and Wednesday from 12 November

Sydney Los Angeles QF11, 12
On selected flights from 24 October 2008

  • Service departs Friday from 24 October
  • Service departs Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 12 November

Sydney Singappre London QF31, 32
On selected flights from 16 January 2009

  • Service departs Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 16 January
7

IAD will supposedly see service from VS when they get their birds. Right now they fly the 340-300 & 600 into here.

8

The subject of this topic needs to be modified: “First *scheduled *A380 flight in the US!”

Emirites’ A380 visited San Francisco yesterday.

An article about it in the San Francisco Chronicle:
Emirates’ decked-out A380 jet drops by SFO

Flights:
JFK to SFO
SFO flight referred to in the article above
Scheduled (as of 0726 5 Aug) flight to LAX

9

Anyone know where it’s going next? Back to JFK? A lot of those JFK-LAX flights come right over me.

10

ORD cannot support the A380 due to not enough room. The only airlines with A380 orders that fly to ORD are Air France, British Airways, Korean, and Virgin Atlantic and I don’t see the A380 really well suited to ORD-CDG, ORD-ICN, or ORD-LHR.

11

A380 enters U.S. Airspace in Commercial Operations

With the A380 now flying in U.S. airspace, ALPA issued Operations Bulletin 2008-05 on August 1 to inform pilots about the new wake separation category that the world’s largest airliner has ushered in, requiring separation greater than that required behind the “heavy” category.

A380 pilots will use the designation “super” after their call sign while in the airport terminal area.

Air traffic controllers will not be allowed to apply visual separation standards to any aircraft following an A380 and will not issue a visual approach to the pilots of any aircraft following an A380.

The FAA separation standards for aircraft following an A380 are:

En route: Small, large, and heavy behind an A380–5 miles

Terminal: Small, large, and heavy behind an A380–10, 8, and 6 miles
respectively.

The ALPA bulletin points out that movement of the A380 both on the ground and within the terminal area may result i significant delays.

Pilots should report wake turbulence encounters involving any aircraft by filling out a NASA ASRS form and/or via their airline’s Aviation Safet Action Program. (ASAP).

ALPA.org

12

Maybe ATL and MCO. I know the 380 flew into MCO during its US tour, presumably to test compatability?

13

You think Chicago would make necessary investments so that the A380 can fly into ORD. They have long enough runways. I assume the taxiways would have to be widened, but can terminal 5 handle a A380?

14

I don’t know why the Chicago Airport Authority would spend their money to help a foreign airline compete with their two hubbing carriers. Terminal 5 is pretty cramped as it is, i doubt they could dock an A380 without blocking out an adjacent gate.

15

Lufthansa is planning on serving ORD with the A380. They did proving flights to the airport last year.

You also need to realize that the Chicago Airport Authority, as good politicians and bureaucrats, don’t see anything but dollar signs so they have no loyalty to AAL or UAL as long as they can get additional dollars.

16

I agree; I think letting capitalism play out is always better in the end. I mean, look at airports like Pittsburgh, and St. Louis and now Cincinatti. They probably bowed down to the hub airline, and now they have or are being killed.

17

The A380 came to ATL on a tour awhile back but there are very slim chances of it being put into regular service here. UPS or FedEx, maybe but doubtful. None of the non-US carriers would justify using a 380 on an ATL route from Asia or Europe, I wouldn’t think.

18

Both UPS and FedEx canceled their orders for the A380F. FedEx went with B777F instead. Don’t know what, if anything, UPS is replacing the A380 with.

19

Both UPS and FedEx canceled their orders for the A380F. FedEx went with B777F instead. Don’t know what, if anything, UPS is replacing the A380 with.

I bet some of the people in Memphis are bummed.

20

BTW, the loads on the EK A380 flight from JFK are consistently pretty low, so if your airline has an ID90 or ZED agreement with EK and you have some spare time and a couple hundred bucks to spare, go check it out.