The super jumbo era of flying arrived in Perth today, with the Dubai-based Emirates 489-seat Airbus A380 landing in Perth at 5.29 pm to a water cannon salute.
The Emirates A380 (registration A6- EOE) operating Perth's first scheduled A380 flight
Emirates president, Tim Clark, said the 489-seat plane was a passenger magnet and the start of a daily A380 service will significantly enhance WA’s presence on the global tourist map.
Emirates has the world’s biggest A380 fleet with 60 in service and 80 more on order. Since the airline put the giant into service in 2008, it has flown 37.8 million passengers on 94,139 return flights more than 557 million kilometres. In all, its fleet serves 35 destinations with Perth the 36th.
To support the fleet, it has 1000 dedicated pilots and 10,000 cabin crew.
Video: 10 years of the A380
The new A380 service will operate Flight EK420, departing Dubai at 2:55am and arriving in to Perth at 5.35pm. The return flight, EK421 departs Perth at 10:10pm and arrives in to Dubai at 5.20am (all times are local time).
The introduction of the A380 on this route will result in Emirates dropping one of it's three daily services.
The less thanone year old Emirates A380 that will serve Perth has a three-class configuration, with 398 seats in economy class on the lower deck, 76 fully flat-bed, mini-pods in business class and 14 first-class private suites on the upper deck.
The plane is crammed with features including a bar for premium classes, showers in first class, one of the most spacious economy cabins, wi-fi and Emirates award winning in flight entertainment.
The A380 will operate into Dubai International Airport’s Concourse A, the world’s first purpose-built A380 terminal, which connects with 36 A380 serviced destinations on the network.
Read more about Emirates In-flight product here.
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