Shortest flight of the A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, in the post-pandemic period, begins on April 1st

After a four-year break, Emirates recently announced the resumption of a route that was operated briefly before the pandemic, and which will now become its shortest route operated by an A380, connecting Dubai to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

As of the date of this publication, and until the new route comes into operation, the shortest Emirates service operated with an Airbus A380 is the one it offers daily between Dubai and Mumbai, with a duration of 3 hours and 5 minutes.

The A380 route to Riyadh was debuted by Emirates on April 29, 2019, but only lasted until March 2020, for widely known reasons. Now, four years later, the company will resume the route with the start of flights between Dubai and Riyadh on April 1st, with a daily frequency.

Technically, this route is not new, as it will replace the Boeing 777-300ER that already operates it, after having resumed it just over a year ago, a time during which the A380 did not visit Riyadh again. Flights can now be booked on the airline’s website.

Before the pandemic, Emirates offered daily and very short flights with the A380 connecting Dubai and Doha (in Qatar) and Muscat (in Oman), capitals, with a duration of approximately 40 minutes each. These, however, are currently operated by the Boeing 777-300ER and there is no forecast for the A380 to be relocated to them, for now.

Perhaps Emirates will announce the return of the A380 on the above-mentioned routes after the peak summer season, as global aviation has not only fully recovered, but there is also more demand for flights than ever before.