The airport of Nice hosted yesterday for the first time in three years theAirbus A380 of the airline Emirates Airlines from Dubai. In Indonesia, the superjumbo also landed for the very first time at bali.

March 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, was the last time that the airport of Nice-Cote d’Azur had hosted theA380 of the Emirati company, which had sent it there since 2017. June 1, 2023 was marked by its return to Nice airport, replacing the Boeing 777-300ER deployed since July 2021 and the relaunch of the line suspended due to health crisis.

Configured to accommodate 14 passengers in First Class, 76 in Business Class and 401 in Economy, the superjumbo takes off every day from Nice at 3:55 p.m. to arrive the next day at 12:10 a.m., and leaves Dubai at 8:45 a.m. to land at 1:40 p.m.

Remember that Emirates remains the only one to land an A380 at the Côte d’Azur airport. It is in indirect competition there with Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways, pending the return of Saudia on June 16 after a 17-year absence.

Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, said in a press release : “ At the end of 2023, we will celebrate 30 years of the Nice – Dubai route and we couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate this event than with the return of the iconic A380. And I know that all of the personnel at the airport – but not only them – will have their eyes turned towards the sky at midday to watch this iconic aircraft land and then take off. It is more than the symbol of the strong and unique ties that unite Nice airport and the Emirates company, and beyond the Côte d’Azur to the United Arab Emirates and Dubai. “.

Thursday, on the other hand, marked the first time that Emirates deployed a A380 in Indonesiain this case between Dubai and the airport of Denpasar-Ngurah Rai in the island of bali, on one of the two daily rotations. The 615-seat superjumbo (58 in Business, 5,557 in Economy) takes off from the UAE at 3:10 a.m. to arrive at 4:20 p.m., and leaves Bali at 7:40 p.m. to land the next day at 12:45 a.m. (average flight time 9:00 a.m.). The other daily flight remains operated by 777-300ER, with departure from Dubai at 9:10 a.m. and return from Bali at 00:05 a.m.

Emirates indirectly faces Qatar Airways on this route, which is also offered on a codeshare basis with Garuda Indonesia And Air Batik via Jakarta or Jetstar Asia through Singapore.

This axis was inaugurated in 2015, in addition to the flights offered to the capital Jakarta since 1992. The Emirati company currently serves Indonesia with 28 weekly flights to the two airports, and offers “increased connectivity to 29 other cities” thanks to its partnership agreements with the two Indonesian companies. In early May, Emirates also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, to “continue to promote Indonesia as a preferred travel destination by through joint marketing campaigns and programs”.

Nice finds the Emirates A380, Bali welcomes it 1 Air Journal

© Emirates