Air France deploys A380 to Hong Kong

Air France has this week launched an A380 service to Hong Kong. The daily summer seasonal route began on Tuesday and runs until October 25.

A superjumbo will be deployed four times weekly — on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays — until June 8, and again from June 16 to 22. During these periods, the other three services will be operated by a B777-300.

At all other times until October 25, Air France will fly a daily A380 service on the route.

Flight AF188 leaves Paris Charles de Gaulle at 2325 and arrives in Hong Kong at 1720 local time the following day. Return service AF187 departs Hong Kong at 0050 and arrives at Paris CDG at 0800 local time the same day.

Hong Kong is the carrier's second destination in China to be served by the A380, after Shanghai.

Earlier this month, Air France unveiled its new first class cabin product (see news,May 7).

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Qatar Airways to deploy 2nd A380 from Doha-Paris

Qatar Airways’ second A380 aircraft will, from July 3, 2014, commence operations from Hamad International Airport in Doha to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The airline recently announced that starting from next month, it would deploy the first of its 13 A380s on the QR003 and QR004 London-Heathrow route. The second A380 will be used for service to Paris on QR39, and return on QR40, as per a release.

Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways, said, “It is yet another significant moment for our airline as we welcome these new aircraft into our rapidly expanding fleet. Operating on the Doha to Paris Charles de Gaulle route, these aircraft, with their customised cabins and five-star specifications, will set a new level of comfort for our passengers, who will also benefit from the smooth and pleasant passenger experience at the world’s newest hub, Hamad International Airport - the soon to be home of Qatar Airways.”

Featuring a tri-class configuration of seating in First, Business and Economy Class, over two decks, the A380 is the largest passenger jet in the world and will provide a superior traveller experience to the Qatar Airways’ customers.

The new First Class A380 seat, recently revealed at ITB Berlin, features a 90-inch seat pitch, transforming into a fully flat bed, together with an expansive choice of entertainment options displayed on individual 26-inch television screens.

Hamad International Airport (HIA), Qatar Airways’ new home as of May 27, has been designed to specifically cater to the A380 aircraft, with six contact gates designed especially for the superjumbo. In addition, the maintenance hangar at HIA is able to accommodate two A380s simultaneously.

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Dubai Overtakes Heathrow as Busiest Airport for International Passengers

Dubai International became the busiest airport globally for international passengers in the first quarter, overtaking London's Heathrow, and illustrating the stellar growth of Emirates Airline in less than 30 years of operations.

Dubai's main hub, the home of Emirates, handled 18.36 million international passengers in the first quarter of the year, Dubai Airports said in a statement Monday. Heathrow saw a total 16.1 million people pass through the airport in the same period, according to statements on the airport's website.

Heathrow pipped Dubai last year to the top spot for international traffic, followed by Hong Kong and Paris, according to official figures from Airports Council International, a global trade body, which hasn't released first quarter figures yet.

Statements from all four airports show Dubai to be the busiest airport for international passengers and the fastest-growing in the first quarter, as the number of people passing through the hub increased 11.4%, compared with the same period a year earlier.

"The growth in passenger and freight traffic supports our continued investment in expanding and improving our facilities at Dubai International," said Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports.

Dubai International's growth is being driven by Emirates and its strategy of using widebody aircraft to connect passengers in Asia and Australasia with Europe and the U.S. via a stop in its home hub. The airline carried nearly 40 million passengers in its last fiscal year. It and lower-cost, shorter-haul carrier flydubai, which is also based at Dubai International and growing apace, helped add 28 new destinations to the airport last year.

Having started operations in 1985, Emirates now serves 142 destinations in 80 countries and territories making it one of the largest carriers in the world, and it plans to grow further. The airline has 374 jets on order with Boeing Co. and Airbus Group worth a combined $162 billion. That is on top of the 218 it currently flies, although many of those aircraft will replace some of the current fleet.

Flydubai is also soaring. It increased passengers last year by 38% to 6.8 million. To cater for forecast growth of both Emirates and flydubai, Dubai Airports has plans to increase capacity at Dubai International from 75 million currently to 100 million by 2020.

The airport may still be edged out by Heathrow for the full year, as Dubai International plans an 80-day improvement project on its two runways on May 1 that will reduce the number of flights at the airport by 24%, and impact Emirates full-year revenues by $272 million.

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