The Last Emirates Airbus A380 – The Full Tour (+Photos)

[In The News]

DALLAS – The world’s largest international airline, Emirates (EK) brought its last ever Airbus A380 Superjumbo to ILA 2022 in Berlin. The carrier’s latest superjumbo is configured in a 4-class cabin ( First, Business, Premium Economy, and Economy) and features the latest IFE and plush interiors.

“We are delighted to return to ILA Berlin for the sixth time with the Emirates A380, as the only A380 and the largest passenger aircraft at Berlin ExpoCenter Airport. We are also delighted to present our all-new premium economy cabin for the first time at an airshow outside of Dubai. Emirates has been flying to Germany for 35 years and we remain committed to supporting tourism and the local economy in this market,”  said Volker Greiner, Emirates Vice President of North & Central Europe.

Emirates has been wanting to fly to Berlin for several years, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening. Why? Bilateral air transport agreements between the UAE and Germany allow the carrier to fly to three German airports, but EK was indeed offered a fourth too: Frankfurt (FRA), Düsseldorf (DUS), Munich (MUC), and Hamburg (HAM).

But Berlin (BER) still remains a high priority on EKs radar and is trying hard to slot it into its network. In an effort to keep their desire alive, the airline has repeatedly sent its A380s to ILA for six years.

A6-EVS – The last Manufactured A380

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In December of 2021, Airbus rolled out the last ever A380 produced at Toulouse (TLS) and handed it over to none other than Emirates in Finkenwerder (XFW).

A6-EVS belongs to the EK’s newer generation of A380s with upgraded cabins. A total of 484 seats in a four-class cabin configuration with 14 Private Suites in First Class, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class on the Upper Deck, as well as 56 Premium Economy Class seats and 338 Economy seats on the Main Deck.

It was indeed great to have EK bring this very jet to ILA 2022, where many could witness it from the outside, some from the inside. So now, onto a photo tour of this magnificent superjumbo.

Economy

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Upon entering the superjumbo, we first walk through the Economy cabin, featured in the standard 3-4-3 lower deck. Have a glance at the large windows and how spacious it is overhead. An economy meal sample was provided too.

The ICE Digital Widescreen inflight entertainment system features up to 5,000 channels of on-demand entertainment and free high-speed Wi-Fi access, as well as mobile phone and data services throughout the flight.

The long spacious galley on the A380

Proceeding all the way back, you find the spiral stairs that take you to the upper deck, and before the Business and First class cabins come, it’s EK’s iconic bar that presents itself to you.

The Emirates A380 Onboard Lounge with its iconic horseshoe-shaped bar, offering 14 different cocktails, is inspired by private yacht cabins and accommodates 26 guests, including eight seated.

Moving onto Business Class, it’s presented in a 1-2-1 configuration with a full lie-flat convertible bed.

Emirates was the first airline to introduce Private Suites to commercial aviation in 2003. Production costs of one Emirates A380 First Class Private Suite are valued at USD 500,000

The Emirates A380 features two fully-equipped Onboard Shower Spas, an industry-first and very popular with First Class guests. Each guest has a five-minutes running water allotment.

The Brand New Emirates Premium Economy Class was carefully developed in keeping with Emirates’ brand positioning as a full-service quality airline. Emirates is the only airline from the Gulf region to offer a Premium Economy.

Emirates currently has six of the newest A380s equipped with Premium Economy. This November, the airline will begin an 18-month retrofit program to install Premium Economy on 67 A380s and 53 Boeing 777s.

Emirates is by far the largest A380 operator in the world and currently hosts 118 aircraft in its fleet. The A380 will remain Emirates’ flagship product well into the mid-2030s as a vital backbone to the fleet. Each A380 flight has up to 24 Cabin Crew and two Cabin Service Assistants working aboard.

Emirates’ A380 aircraft currently operate to a route network of 33 destinations globally. DXB-LAX is currently the longest non-stop A380 destination (13,420 km), DXB-JED the shortest non-stop A380 destination (1,701 km). The EK A380 has visited a total of 77 airports to date.

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Featured image and all photos: Siddharth Ganesh/Airways

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