Emirates has 116 Airbus A380s, although not all of them are active. They have many different configurations, of which only one—with 615 seats—is particularly notable. It has more seats than any other commercial aircraft globally.

The Gulf giant has 15 frames with 615 seats, with all aircraft currently operational. Each aircraft has the same layout, although there are no first class or premium economy cabins. Instead, it has 58 seats in business (versus 76 with its other superjumbos) and 557 in economy (compared to 322 to 429 with its other configs).

A Two-Second Summary Of Its 615-Seaters

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Emirates’ two-class A380 layout is, of course, far less premium than the others. Inevitably, this directly influences where it is flown. It is deployed in very high-volume, lower-yielding, lower-premium, and typically more leisure-driven destinations.

For obvious reasons, Emirates does not use it in high-premium markets. The only realistic exceptions are one-offs or if the nature of the demand varied meaningfully depending on the season. Or if it already adequately caters to that demand on other flights each day, and adding a more premium capacity would be excessive.

The airline offsets the lower yields with high passenger volume, which helps to achieve higher sector revenue. Unsurprisingly, consistently filling 615 seats—day in, day out, and sometimes more than once daily—might be challenging.

Notable Changes To The 615-Seater’s Network In 2026

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The latest Cirium Diio data has been used to compare the 615-seater’s network in 2025 to what’s scheduled for 2026. The configuration will not be used from Dubai to Bahrain, Casablanca, Hong Kong, Milan Malpensa, Singapore, or Vienna. As these routes had only between one and 12 departures on the exceptionally high-capacity equipment last year, it’s far less interesting than it might seem.

Much more notable are changes happening within the current year. The latest information shows that the 615-seater (and all A380s) remain paused to the ever-popular Bali, with questions about if, and when, it will return. Emirates will also stop flying the configuration to Copenhagen, Jeddah (but it’ll return later in the year), Kuala Lumpur, Munich, and Taipei.

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The 615-Seater Has 20% Fewer Flights This Year (For Now)

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The latest data shows that Emirates plans 24 routes on the world’s highest-capacity superjumbo this year. The figure includes the routes mentioned above that have some flights on it this year, but will then stop seeing it.

The number also includes several places with just one departure. They include Barcelona (February 7), Glasgow (January 26), Istanbul Airport (February 5; the day of writing), Medinah (January 8; Emirates’ shortest A380 flight in 2026), Paris CDG (February 13), and Vienna (February 2). Expect more additions later this year.

In total, its 615-seater departures have fallen by 20% year-over-year. While 4,774 outbound flights were available last year, the number has fallen to 3,828. Of course, this reflects the situation in early February. Things could easily change, especially in the winter 2026/2027.

Notable changes include London Gatwick losing 45% of its 615-seat flights, while Manchester is down by a quarter. Wider context is critical. Regardless of the configuration, Gatwick will have fewer A380 flights this year than for many previous years (excluding the pandemic). This is primarily because the route’s overall frequency will rise to four daily on February 8—with the new A350 appearing. Meanwhile, Manchester has more flights on first-class-equipped A380s than at any point since 2019. Both developments are notable.