Cheapest A380 Routes ?

180567

I'd love to do a return flight on the A380 , and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions or ideas on the cheapest routes that they fly on on a daily basis ?
For me the flights on the A380 would be the main object of the trip, so the destination itself isn't as important as the flights, though somewhere with cheap airport hotels would be a bonus. I know they don't go from Dublin, so obviously connecting thru somewhere like LHR or another city. I am guessing there is nowhere within Europe they fly to/from ?
Thanks in advance if anyone has any ideas / suggestions.

Dardania

This page may help you find flights:

https://www.iflya380.com/a380-destinations.html

Big airlines are Emirates (to & from their Dubai hub), BA, Lufthansa & Air France in Europe. Then there's Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Singapore, ANA& China SOuthern. I feel sure I'm forgetting someone - Korean?

VG31

I've seen DUB-AMS-PEK with KLM and the Beijing leg on a China Southern A380 for €350-€400 return.

dfx-

The length of the flights they are on would put me off, what would be the shortest A380 route - presumably something like Seoul-Tokyo with the likes of ANA, Asiana or Korean..

listermint

Wouldn't you have to get to Seoul first....

Noxegon

Shortest A380 route is likely out of Dubai.

x567

One option with relatively short mid-haul flights, albeit tough on the body, would be a day trip to Boston from LHR with BA. I think they have a daily 380 on the route with enough time on the ground to make it more than a sprint through flight connections. Don't know whether the fares are reasonable though. I guess you could probably do something similar with Emirates from LHR to Dubai...

Van.Bosch

x567 wrote: »

One option with relatively short mid-haul flights, albeit tough on the body, would be a day trip to Boston from LHR with BA. I think they have a daily 380 on the route with enough time on the ground to make it more than a sprint through flight connections. Don't know whether the fares are reasonable though. I guess you could probably do something similar with Emirates from LHR to Dubai...

You could fly Dublin to Dubai and get the A380 back through LHR or LGW if one way was sufficient?

ozzy jr

Noxegon wrote: »

Shortest A380 route is likely out of Dubai.

Think it might be Dubai to Kuwait City.

Inquitus

Aye Emirates to Dubai from a Major European Hub, or somewhere on the East Coast of the US out of LHR with BA are your best bet. (7-10 hours e/w)

BA fly to Chicago, Boston, Miami, all in the 7-10 hour range.
Emirates fly from a multitude of major EU hubs to Dubai with the A380 (6-8 hours e/w), sadly Dublin can't take an A380 so you can't fly direct on one.

Dubai to Doha was the shortest A380 flight until the GCC Countries blackballed Qatar.

Sexual Chocolate

Heathrow to Doha is also another option. Only about 6.5 hrs flight as the most.

If you do end up on a Qatar A380 the isle seat leg room is quite restricted do to the in-flight entertainment box's. I endured 15.5hrs of it last week. Likewise with their 787s which are slightly worse.

geecee

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

If you do end up on a Qatar A380 the isle seat leg room is quite restricted do to the in-flight entertainment box's. I endured 15.5hrs of it last week. Likewise with their 787s which are slightly worse.

Qatar also seem to swap their aircraft depending on loadings. you might find the A380 swapped out for a B787 or an A330 if there are not enough passengers on your particular flight

Emirates on the other hand seem to keep the A380 on routes even if they are practically empty on the day

Chris_5339762

If I were you I'd play around with destinations a bit and enjoy a day or two where you're going as well!

cson

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/af55

AF run it on their CDG - IAD route.

https://www.google.com/flights#flt=DUB.IAD.2019-09-27.DUBCDG0AF1017~CDGIAD0AF54*IAD.DUB.2019-10-02.IADCDG0AF55~CDGDUB1AF1716;c:USD;e:1;a:SKYTEAM*SKYTEAM;sd:1;t:b;sp:2.USD.31902*2.USD.31902

300 Euro for the last weekend in Sept, Thurs - Weds (actually seems to work for a lot of combos of dates around then).

DC is an awesome city.

Edit:
You'll pick up a basic hotel (Comfort Inn etc) around Dulles Airport for about 70 Euro/Night. You sound like you're into your aircraft so if you did go then you can get an Uber/Cab to the Steven F Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum which is a must for AvGeeks (it has a Concorde on display). You can get into DC proper if you want a look around on the 5A bus which costs $7.50 one way (about 6 Euro). There's another Air & Space Museum on the mall.

I reckon you could do this for < 750 Euro all in (inc your food & drinks) for a Friday - Monday if you're flexible.

180567

Some excellent suggestions and ideas there. I shall let you know how I get on.

shanec1928

dfx- wrote: »

The length of the flights they are on would put me off, what would be the shortest A380 route - presumably something like Seoul-Tokyo with the likes of ANA, Asiana or Korean..

got one from dubai - bangkok.

theguzman

Bangkok to Hong Kong with Emirates would be an option, Thailand offering you all the variety and lower cost you'd seek.

errlloyd

Anyone have any tips for flying on one.

I am on Emirates from Dubai to Tokyo in September (RWC) I hard there are some economy seats on the top if you check in early?

crisco10

errlloyd wrote: »

Anyone have any tips for flying on one.

I am on Emirates from Dubai to Tokyo in September (RWC) I hard there are some economy seats on the top if you check in early?

68A and 68K are 2 of the best seats in Economy, they are window seats with extra legroom, and unrestricted access to aisle if you are slightly agile. Was in them on Sydney to Dubai flight. They weren't even classed as "legroom" seats so I were cheaper to prebook than the usual extra legroom seats. (I'm sure they will change that at some point)

Brennus335

errlloyd wrote: »

Anyone have any tips for flying on one.

I am on Emirates from Dubai to Tokyo in September (RWC) I hard there are some economy seats on the top if you check in early?

Only the 2 class aircraft have economy seats on the top deck. The 3 class aircraft don't.

errlloyd

Brennus335 wrote: »

Only the 2 class aircraft have economy seats on the top deck. The 3 class aircraft don't.

How can you tell which are which? I am able to look up plane numbers on flight radar, is there a list of which ones are in which configuration somewhere?

Van.Bosch

errlloyd wrote: »

How can you tell which are which? I am able to look up plane numbers on flight radar, is there a list of which ones are in which configuration somewhere?

If you do a dummy booking you can see if first class is available (3 class) or not (2class).

Thing is they could change it but that’s true of any flight/airline.

smurfjed

Why do you only want to do a short sector on the A380, but are willing to do a longhaul sector on another aircraft to the A380 departure airport?

Brennus335

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/421349-muscat-to-become-emirates-shortest-a380-route

Dubai to Muscat, twice daily.

GBX

Brennus335 wrote: »

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/421349-muscat-to-become-emirates-shortest-a380-route

Dubai to Muscat, twice daily.

This service has now started.

https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/1145575845664296960

180567

Thanks everyone for all the replies to my original question. In the end I went to Singapore with Lufthansa via Frankfurt, on their A380 (Lufthansa A320 & A321 on the shorter parts of the trip). The A380 was brilliant, and I was able to get seats in the small economy class section of the upper deck. (Boarding thru the main deck and then going up the spiral stairs at the back of the plane to the upper deck. This also had the advantage that I was able to disembark through the upper deck and had a walk through the business class cabin and even had a brief look into first class. The crew were very friendly and let me take a few pictures once everyone else was off.
The service was brilliant, the take off roll from Frankfurt very excellent, and seemed to go on for ages. Very smooth flight, and the flight path went over eastern europe, Turkey and then on over India and Malaysia.
On the way back the flight was at midnight so I had a great afternoon and evening exploring Changi airport which was excellent, and fascinating. Lots of Qantas and Singapore A380's and 777s to see. Some very nice outdoor viewing galleries airside.
Frankfurt airport was also very interesting , the long haul flights from the Z gates. On the way back the Dublin flight was from the B gates which had some interesting airlines such as Oman Air.
The seats on the A380 were very comfortable, the configuration in the economy class section of the upper deck is 2-4-2. (down on the main deck it was 3-4-3) There was a small box type compartment beside the window for storage, as the overhead bins looked to be smaller than the main deck ones. The window itself is interesting as it had about 10 inches of space between the outer and inner pane (probably because of the shape of the cabin). There was a small galley and crew area and restroom at the back of the upper deck economy section and a cart lift to bring stuff up and down from the main deck.
The inflight entertainment system was grand, and included a live feed from cameras on the tail and facing downwards.
I'd really recommend Lufthansa and their A380, and one big advantage of their system is you can check in online 23 hours before your first segment, and then also check in and select your seat for the 2nd segment at that time (so you can get the pick of the seats for the long haul flight before they are all filled up).
The flight down was about 70% full and 100% full on the way back. Singapore airport was very easy and you do security at the gate rather than at a central security check. Passports took about 20 minutes, no visa requirements.
I'll try and post some pictures later.

180567

Here's some pictures from my trip

180567

And a few more

spurious

Is that staircase down from the little bar area?

180567

spurious wrote: »

Is that staircase down from the little bar area?

Its the spiral staircase right at the back of the plane, that goes up to the small economy section on the upper deck. There was another larger staircase at the front.

Sexual Chocolate

On Qatar flights there's a rope blocking passengers from using the stairs. Guessing it's the same with other airlines?

Inquitus

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

On Qatar flights there's a rope blocking passengers from using the stairs. Guessing it's the same with other airlines?

Same on Emirates

ToxicPaddy

180567 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for all the replies to my original question. In the end I went to Singapore with Lufthansa via Frankfurt, on their A380 (Lufthansa A320 & A321 on the shorter parts of the trip). The A380 was brilliant, and I was able to get seats in the small economy class section of the upper deck. (Boarding thru the main deck and then going up the spiral stairs at the back of the plane to the upper deck. This also had the advantage that I was able to disembark through the upper deck and had a walk through the business class cabin and even had a brief look into first class. The crew were very friendly and let me take a few pictures once everyone else was off.
The service was brilliant, the take off roll from Frankfurt very excellent, and seemed to go on for ages. Very smooth flight, and the flight path went over eastern europe, Turkey and then on over India and Malaysia.
On the way back the flight was at midnight so I had a great afternoon and evening exploring Changi airport which was excellent, and fascinating. Lots of Qantas and Singapore A380's and 777s to see. Some very nice outdoor viewing galleries airside.
Frankfurt airport was also very interesting , the long haul flights from the Z gates. On the way back the Dublin flight was from the B gates which had some interesting airlines such as Oman Air.
The seats on the A380 were very comfortable, the configuration in the economy class section of the upper deck is 2-4-2. (down on the main deck it was 3-4-3) There was a small box type compartment beside the window for storage, as the overhead bins looked to be smaller than the main deck ones. The window itself is interesting as it had about 10 inches of space between the outer and inner pane (probably because of the shape of the cabin). There was a small galley and crew area and restroom at the back of the upper deck economy section and a cart lift to bring stuff up and down from the main deck.
The inflight entertainment system was grand, and included a live feed from cameras on the tail and facing downwards.
I'd really recommend Lufthansa and their A380, and one big advantage of their system is you can check in online 23 hours before your first segment, and then also check in and select your seat for the 2nd segment at that time (so you can get the pick of the seats for the long haul flight before they are all filled up).
The flight down was about 70% full and 100% full on the way back. Singapore airport was very easy and you do security at the gate rather than at a central security check. Passports took about 20 minutes, no visa requirements.
I'll try and post some pictures later.

I flew a Lufthanss A380 from Frankfurt to San Francisco back in 2015. Beautiful aircraft, so quiet and smooth. An 11 hour flight but barely noticed it.

It's a pity no one is buying them anymore

cherrytaz

I regularly fly A380 from Dubai to Riyadh, flight time of around 1 hour or so. Creates serious queuing at passport control in Riyadh with such a big influx at the same time...Comfortable flight though :-)

Inquitus

Flew on one for the first time recently Dubai to Athens, lovely aircraft, have wanted to fly on one for a long time.

errlloyd

Inquitus wrote: »

Flew on one for the first time recently Dubai to Dublin, lovely aircraft, have wanted to fly on one for a long time.

I think its unlikely you flew that route on an A380. Afaik one has never landed in Dublin!

Inquitus

errlloyd wrote: »

I think its unlikely you flew that route on an A380. Afaik one has never landed in Dublin!

Too used to flying home, I went from Dubai to Athens on Emirates for work for a week, then had the comparative joy of Ryanair back from Athens to Dublin!

Dublin Dubai I fly alot, that's always a Boeing 777-300ER as we all know DUB can't take an A380.

skibum

just seen this, don't know if it's the cheapest, but it's the shortest A380 Flight

Henry Ford III

skibum wrote: »

just seen this, don't know if it's the cheapest, but it's the shortest A380 Flight

I've seen a few of Sam's videos. He's seemingly for hire - anyone can buy a good review. It's actually a bit cringeworthy.