At up to 17h 25m, Auckland back to Dubai remains the world’s longest nonstop commercial Airbus A380 flight. Emirates operates it, with this airline being one of 10 scheduled users of the double-decker quadjet. It joins All Nippon, Asiana, British Airways, Etihad, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines.

Hi Fly Malta also has the A380. It has two aircraft: 9H-GLOBL (undergoing maintenance) and 9H-MIP (stored). Global Airlines (which has no operating licenses of its own) pays Hi Fly to operate 9H-GLOBL on its behalf, and may do so for 9H-MIP, too. While two round-trip flights to New York JFK took place in May, Global has no scheduled operations.

The 10 Longest Nonstop A380 Flights: July To September

The order is based on the maximum block or scheduled time. This is what is published on airline websites, in other booking places, etc. It includes taxi time at both airports, flight time, and a period for short delays. It reflects slot possession at slot-controlled airports. The information below is based on July to September only, with the entries and details potentially changing later this year.

With a block time of up to 17h 25m, Emirates from New Zealand’s most populous city back to Dubai is the longest superjumbo flight in the examined period. Emirates first flew the A380 to Auckland in 2009, which always operated via Australia. The first nonstop service took place in 2016, with all flights operating nonstop from April 2018. While the carrier previously had up to four daily A380 services to Auckland, its superjumbo offering remains once daily.

Back Soon: Qantas’ A380s To Dallas

Taking off in less than two months will be the Australian flag carrier’s 485-seat A380s on the very long oneworld route between Sydney and Dallas/Fort Worth. It will be Dallas’ only A380 operation since British Airways temporarily ceased flying there in March 2025. This was in favor of transatlantic joint venture partner American Airlines, which consequently grew its Dallas-Heathrow Triple 7 flights to a record five daily.

Qantas flew the A380 to Dallas between 2014 and 2020. It replaced the now-retired Boeing 747-400, which had operated since the route’s first flight in 2011. Due to the very long stage length, flights back to Australia stopped in Brisbane before continuing to New South Wales’ capital and Qantas’ busiest hub. Less strong headwinds meant 747-400 flights operated nonstop to Texas.

Qantas has flown the 787-9 to Dallas since 2022, and the twinjet continues to operate daily. However, when the superjumbo reappears on August 11, it’ll operate four weekly, while 787 frequencies will fall to thrice-weekly. The A380 will operate daily to Dallas in early 2026.

Emirates’ A380s From Dubai To Brazil

Emirates first flew to São Paulo (which has by far South America’s largest metro population) in 2007, marking the start of its passenger operations to the continent. Flights were initially on the 777-200LR, before switching to the higher-capacity 777-300ER in late 2010 and to the A380 in early 2017, although other types materialized at times. It remains all-A380.

Between July and September, EK261 will leave the Middle East at 09:05 and arrive in Brazil at 17:15 local time (15h 10m). Returning, EK262 will depart at 01:05 and arrive at 23:00 local time (14h 55m). São Paulo is, of course, the only city in South America to see Emirates’ double-deckers.

According to booking data, around 42% of Emirates’ São Paulo connecting passengers traveled to/from Japan and China last year. Brazil has two million people of Japanese heritage and citizenship, with São Paulo home to many of them, along with traffic based on car manufacturing, etc. Over 300,000 Chinese immigrants and Brazilian Chinese live in the country.

Source: Simple Flying