Emirates announces three new A380 superjumbo routes for 2016

Emirates said it would deploy its Airbus A380 to more destinations across its network in 2016.

The Dubai carrier said Birmingham (BHX), Prague (PRG) and Taipei (TPE) have been added to its list of A380 destinations. It means Emirates is the only airline to operate a scheduled A380 service from each of these destinations.

Emirates’ daily Birmingham flight will be up-gauged to an A380 beginning March 27, while the services to Prague and Taiwan will start from May 1. Additionally, Barcelona will be served with a second daily A380 service from June 1.

“Deploying larger capacity aircraft, such as the A380, helps us to efficiently meet growing passenger demand in these markets, contribute to tourism development and enhance customer choice and options,” said Thierry Antinori, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Emirates.

There are currently 36 A380 destinations on the Emirates network, while its fleet of 71 is the world’s largest.

The airline has been in talks with Airbus over a fully re-engined version of the A380.

Earlier this month it said it would retire 26 older aircraft next year as it looks to modernise its fleet and make it more fuel efficient.

The planes being retired in 2016 are 12 A330-300s, four A340-300s, one A340-500, six Boeing 777-200ERs, two Boeing 777-300s and one Boeing 777-300ER.

At the same time, Emirates will add 36 new planes to its fleet in 2016. These planes include 20 Airbus A380s.