Here is the definitive guide
to current A380 operators Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Air
France, Lufthansa, Korean Air, China Southern, Malaysia Airlines and
Thai Airways.
Thai Airways became the ninth carrier to take delivery of the Airbus
A380 in September 2012, and has a total of six superjumbos on order,
configured for 507 seats with 12 in Royal First Class, 60 in Royal Silk
business class, and 435 in economy.
First and business class cabins feature fully-flat beds, and all
passengers benefit from AVOD in-flight entertainment systems, individual
power sources, and wifi internet and mobile phone access.
The carrier’s first A380 is set to enter service on October 6 between
Bangkok and Hong Kong, with Singapore also set to see the superjumbo
during initial bedding-in services.
As Thai Airways receives more of its A380 fleet over the next twelve
months, routes to Frankfurt, Tokyo, Paris, Osaka and Sydney will follow,
and the carrier should have received all six of its superjumbos by
around October 2013.
The carrier became the second airline to take delivery of the A380 in
2012, joining Malaysia Airlines. The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier took
delivery of its first superjumbo at the end of May 2012, before putting
it into service on the flagship London-Kuala Lumpur service on July 1.
For a review of the carrier's inaugural A380 service from London
Heathrow, click here.
The carrier had originally planned to offer a premium economy cabin on the superjumbo (see online news January 24, 2010),
but eventually opted for a three-class configuration, with eight first
class and 350 economy seats on the lower deck, and 66 fully-flat
business and 70 economy seats on the upper deck.
Before MAS, China Southern became the first Chinese carrier to take
delivery of its A380 aircraft in the autumn of 2011, with the superjumbo
initially operating on domestic routes from Beijing to Shanghai and
Guangzhou.
The airline has five A380s on order, with delivered aircraft
configured in a three-class layout, featuring eight first class seats,
70 business class seats and 428 economy seats.
South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air took delivery of its first A380
on May 24, 2011 from the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, and put the
aircraft into service on routes from Seoul to Tokyo and Hong Kong from
mid June.
The carrier was the first airline to dedicate the entire upper deck
of the aircraft to business class, with 94 Prestige sleeper seats in a
2-2-2 configuration. (For more information see online news January 18). However
SIA has subsequently also launched a second A380 configuration with an
all-business class upper deck on its new A380 deliveries (see online
news May 23, 2011).
The upper deck of the Korean Air superjumbo features an onboard bar
and lounge area for business and first class passengers, with smart blue
and white seating, a flatscreen TV and bar area.
The lower deck features 12 first class and 301 economy seats, making a
total of 407 on board the aircraft, the lowest number of seats for any
A380 operator so far. SIA will offer 409 seats with its new A380
configuration.
Korean Air also offers an inflight Duty Free "showcase" at the back
of the lower deck, occupying a space equivalent to 13 economy seats (see
online news April 18).
It’s not the first time that an A380 operator has opted to use some
of its precious onboard space for something other than seating –
Emirates has showers in its first class cabins, while Qantas has a
lounge area for its premium passengers located at the front of the upper
deck, Air France has a digital gallery also at the front of the upper
deck, and SIA famously offers double beds in first class.
Having two full passenger decks has given the six A380 operators
plenty of scope in terms of aircraft configuration, and as you can see
from this table each carrier has opted for distinct layouts.
The only constants are the presence of an economy cabin on the lower
deck (albeit in some cases in conjunction with a smaller economy cabin
on the upper deck), and all nine airlines (including Thai's forthcoming
superjumbo) have opted to place business class on the upper deck.
The carriers disagree on the best place for their first class cabins,
with Emirates, Lufthansa and the forthcoming Thai Airways opting for the
upper deck, and Qantas, SIA, Air France, Korean Air, China Southern and
Malaysia Airlines all choosing to locate their most premium seats on
the lower deck.
It should also be noted that both Emirates, Qantas and SIA have more
than one configuration for their A380 aircraft. In the case of Emirates
the carrier has a 489-seat layout which includes a crew rest area at the
back of the economy cabin, necessary for its longest flights served by
the superjumbo, whereas routes to the UK, for instance, use A380s
without this crew area, meaning there are an additional 28 economy seats
in the cabin.
In terms of economy Korean Air has the fewest seats at 301, followed
by SIA's new A380 configuration at 311, then Qantas at 332, which along
with Air France is one of only two A380 carriers to offer a premium
economy cabin.
Emirates' A380s configured without the crew rest area have the
largest economy offering at 427 seats, followed by the Lufthansa
aircraft at 420 (all on the lower deck), while Air France has the most
seats overall at 538, some 131 seats more than the Korean Air 407-seat
layout. But all of the current capacities will pale into insignificance
compared to the 840-seat layout planned by Air Austral.
Forthcoming A380 operators
Other airlines which have ordered the Airbus A380 include British
Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Asiana, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and
Skymark Airlines.
Source: Business Traveller
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