Emirates Moves NY A380s To Toronto, Bangkok
Darren Shannon darren_shannon@aviationweek.com 
Emirates this summer is planning to redeploy the Airbus A380s currently assigned to the carrier's twice daily service between Dubai and New York Kennedy as it adapts to shifts in demand and limitations of an air services agreement between the UAE and Canada.
Starting June 1, the carrier will allocate one of the two A380s currently serving New York to its thrice-weekly route to Toronto, while the second ultra-widebody assigned to JFK will be placed into service on one of Emirates' twice daily flights from between Dubai and Bangkok.
At the same time, Emirates will start operating Boeing 777-300ERs to New York in a move that effectively swaps the capacity currently assigned to Bangkok and Toronto.
Emirates' A380s seat 14 in first class, 76 in business, and 399 in economy, while the 777-300ERs are configured with eight seats in first, 42 in business, and 304 in coach.
The shift is due in part to an anticipated change in summer demand to New York and a condition of an air service agreement that limits Emirates' Toronto service to three flights a week. The small changes to the North American summer schedule do not affect the expansion of Emirates services to Los Angeles and San Francisco, which grow to daily from thrice-weekly on May 1.
"We are extremely pleased to provide the A380 for our Dubai-Toronto service, which has had consistently strong demand since the three times weekly route was launched in October, 2007," noted Emirates President Tim Clark in a release.
He added, "In fact, the demand has been so high it will only allow Emirates to address some of the unmet need of the Toronto market. Despite the current economic difficulties, this is good news for the Canadian economy. We believe you need a long-term view. By adding this new ultra-efficient aircraft to Toronto, we are increasing trade and tourism capacity, but the three flights a week restriction remains a disappointment. We believe Toronto needs a daily A380 service and progressively, a second daily service with an aircraft like the 777."
Emirates announced this capacity shift just after German publication Der Spiegel released an article noting significant reliability issues in the carrier's A380 fleet.
Photo credit: Emirates
