Flying the world: A380s carry more than 1 million passengers every month

The A380’s arrival in Latin America this week for a multi-country demonstration tour comes as the 21st century Airbus flagship jetliner confirms its operational success with a growing in-service fleet worldwide.

20 MARCH 2012 FEATURE STORY

Having surpassed the 70-aircraft delivery milestone, A380s are now performing an average of 100 flights per day with seven airlines, carrying a combined total of more than one million passengers each month.

The 56 regularly-scheduled routes currently flown by A380s link 29 destinations that include the world’s top airports: Beijing, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, New York-John F. Kennedy, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Singapore and Sydney.

Additionally, the aircraft’s ability to successfully serve other than the largest hub cities is demonstrated by such examples as Emirates’ flights from Dubai to Rome and Manchester in England, as well as Singapore’s operations to Zurich.

The A380 continues to draw higher load factors in boosting traffic and market share for airlines, confirming the jetliner’s ability to attract passengers and increase operators’ revenues.

Airbus has firm contracts for 253 A380s from 19 customers.  This volume reflects the 29 new orders booked in 2011 from three new airlines, along with three reorders from existing customers last year.

The number of operators will grow in 2012, with the current list (Air France, China Southern Airlines, Emirates, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas and Singapore Airlines) expanding when Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways receive their initial A380s.