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Emirates will remove the Airbus A380 from its 
Dubai International Airport (DXB) route to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) later this month, ending its superjumbo flights with less than two weeks’ notice. The carrier currently operates three daily A380 services on this route, but has abruptly removed the type for the entirety of the winter season.
Instead, the route is set to be served by the Boeing 777-300ER for all three daily services until the return of the A380 next year. The last A380 flights are scheduled for October 24, after which the 777 will take over until March 28, 2027.
Emirates Pulls A380 From Dubai-Jeddah This Winter
Data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows that the Dubai-based carrier has completely removed the A380 from its popular Dubai-Jeddah route for the 2026/27 winter season, less than two weeks before the season begins. Emirates currently operates three daily round trips between Dubai and Jeddah (EK801/802, EK803/804, and EK805/806), with scheduled flight times of almost three hours.
From October 25, when the Northern Hemisphere winter schedule begins, all three daily services will switch to the Boeing 777-300ER. The change will leave Jeddah without an A380 for more than five months, until March 28, 2027. Emirates then plans to restore three daily A380 services using its 489-seat, 517-seat, and 519-seat superjumbos.
Flight code | From | To | Departs | Arrives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
EK801 | Dubai | Jeddah | 00:10 | 03:05 |
EK803 | Dubai | Jeddah | 06:55 | 09:45 |
EK805 | Dubai | Jeddah | 15:45 | 18:35 |
EK802 | Jeddah | Dubai | 04:05 | 07:55 |
EK806 | Jeddah | Dubai | 10:45 | 14:40 |
EK804 | Jeddah | Dubai | 20:10 | 00:10 (+1) |
Before the schedule update, Jeddah was one of just seven destinations scheduled to receive at least three daily A380 departures from Dubai in November. The schedule changes were made over the same weekend as the latest attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH) on Saturday, October 10, which killed 13 people and injured over 300.
A New Shortest Emirates A380 Route
At 1,057 miles (1,701 km), Dubai–Jeddah is the shortest route on Emirates’ A380 network. While the aircraft is away, that distinction will pass to 
Mumbai Airport (BOM). It will become Emirates’ shortest A380 destination at 1,197 miles (1,926 km) from Dubai. The airline currently schedules one daily superjumbo flight to the Indian city.
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Mumbai is currently one of two Indian destinations served by the Emirates A380, alongside Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR). However, Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) is set to join them on October 25, one day after A380 service to Jeddah stops.
Interestingly, Delhi will become Emirates’ third-shortest A380 route, behind Mumbai and Jordan’s Amman Queen Alia International Airport (AMM), which is 1,257 miles (2,023 km) from Dubai. Of the 52 destinations served by Emirates’ A380 fleet, only six currently fall below the 2000-mile (3,219 km) threshold.
Jeddah Is A Long-Time Emirates A380 Destination
Jeddah holds the distinction as the first Middle Eastern destination outside of Dubai to see A380 service. Emirates launched A380 flights to Jeddah in early 2010, also becoming the first airline to operate the A380 to Saudi Arabia. Emirates also operated its 615-seat A380 to Medina (MED) until early January this year.
However, Jeddah is not the shortest route Emirates has ever operated with the A380. In July 2014, the airline launched A380 flights to Kuwait, creating what was then the world’s shortest scheduled A380 service, with a flight time of just one hour and 45 minutes.
Emirates has made several cutbacks to its A380 schedule for the upcoming winter season. This includes deploying the Boeing 777-300ER on its Washington Dulles (IAD) route throughout the winter, and reducing Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) to one daily A380 flight between December 1 and January 31, 2027.
