There have been many one-off A380 flights, mainly for celebrations, with the double-decker quadjet always ensuring high media interest. It could be for serving a country, such as when Emirates used it to Clark, Philippines, to commemorate 30 years of serving the nation. Or for the inauguration of a new route, as with Qatar Airways to Atlanta, before it reverted to the usual aircraft.
Double-decker one-offs
Other celebrations include a brand-new terminal (Emirates to Accra) or a milestone in airport ownership (Air France to Cancun) or to mark the start of higher frequency (Emirates operating four-daily to Tehran).
Also, to show an airport’s readiness to accept the world’s largest passenger aircraft (Emirates to Beirut) or a one-off and unusually high demand for premium seats (Korean Air to Prague for a conference) or in times of crisis (Malaysia Airlines repatriating Thomas Cook passengers to Manchester).
Charter flights also feature heavily for one-offs, such as Qantas from Melbourne to Tokyo and Orlando, Etihad to Berlin, Jeddah, and Male, and the planned but ultimately canceled Stansted-Orlando. A lack of aircraft explains it too, including Air Madagascar utilizing HiFly’s equipment between Paris and Antananarivo on just one occasion as its own A340s underwent unexpected maintenance.
Our @Airbus A380 has touched down in Islamabad International Airport today for a historic one-off service, marking the first time ever that the iconic double-decker aircraft has landed in Pakistan. https://t.co/vjIb3dp2Vm pic.twitter.com/FWQbGZRcSt
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) July 8, 2018
Tel Aviv was set to be another in December
Tel Aviv was set to welcome the A380 on December 6th to mark Emirates’ commencement of the route before the B777-300ER took over the next day,…