Ten US airports have Airbus A380 flights between May and September: Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Honolulu, Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles. The start of Lufthansa’s regular superjumbo service to Denver on April 30 helped, as will Qantas resuming double-decker flights to Dallas/Fort Worth on August 11. British Airways’ A380s were flown to Dallas until March. When the carrier returns in the winter, flights will be on the A350-1000, but they’ll be too short to make that type’s 10 longest routes list.

According to OAG data, one in five Airbus A380 flights between May and September will be to the US. The US is the world’s third most-served country for double-decker quadjets, behind the UAE and the UK. Obviously, all the country’s flights with at least 500-seat aircraft are on the type.

The 10 US Airports With A380 Flights: May-September

They are shown below. Despite departures falling by a fifth year-on-year, due to Korean Air’s significant reduction, Los Angeles remains the country’s leading airport for the A380. With six operators, the Californian airport has the joint-highest number of airlines globally, alongside London Heathrow and New York JFK.

Los Angeles is the world’s sixth-busiest A380 airport in the examined period, behind Dubai, London Heathrow, Singapore, Sydney, and Munich. In eighth place, New York JFK is the only other US facility in the top 10. Their high rankings are notable because neither of them is, of course, a hub for airlines using the type. Given that they are two of the world’s major cities, that’s hardly surprising.

Global Airlines’ Two Round-Trip US A380 Flights In May

Global Airlines has chartered 9H-GLOBL, operated by Hi Fly Malta, for two round-trip services to New York JFK. On May 15, it will lift off from Glasgow (the return flight will be on May 19), followed by Manchester to New York JFK on May 21 (and back on May 25). The odd setup appears to be because it does not have permission to sell tickets from the US, so those who fly out will fly back.

Caution is needed. Global is not an ‘airline’ in the true sense of the word, as it has no license. It is simply a brand name that a travel agency uses to charter an aircraft. Unsurprisingly, it has had to reduce ticket prices substantially from the high prices stated initially to help fill the aircraft. If established Norse Atlantic struggles with much smaller aircraft, imagine the difficulties confronting an untested operator using huge and considerably less efficient equipment without passenger feed at either end.

Flights from the Big Apple will operate to Europe during the day, making it the only passenger quadjet to operate like this from North America. While it had not previously planned to use flight number 380, which seemed like a wasted opportunity, it will now do so.

New York JFK Will Lose 2 A380 Operators

Global Airlines will briefly operate to the Big Apple, while Etihad will cease flying its superjumbos there on June 23, with A350-1000s flown thereafter. Consequently, from June 24 onwards, only Asiana, Emirates, Korean Air, and Lufthansa will continue to use the type to JFK, the country’s leading airport for international flights. Yet, because of Global and Etihad’s limited operations, JFK will still rank as the world’s eighth-busiest A380 airport.

OAG data shows that JFK’s A380 services rose by 8% from May to September compared to the same period last year, mainly due to Asiana’s return. However, they remain down by a substantial 45% compared to the same five months before the pandemic in 2019. Then, Air France and Singapore Airlines used the type, as did Hi Fly on behalf of Norwegian in September of that year.

Source: Simple Flying