Is the pandemic over and the end? Not too far. But with Emirates Airlines once back flying its 500-seat A380 super-jumbo aircraft, the pandemic would possibly have reached manageable proportions. Or as Winston Churchill said in another context: “This is not the goal. This isn’t even the beginning of the goal. But this would possibly be the end of the exit.”
According to a spokeswoman. Emirates has resumed the A380 in five cities. Lately, customers can fly the Emirates A380 every day to Amsterdam, 4 times a week to Cairo, twice a day to London Heathrow, once a day to Paris and from 8 August, once a week to Guangzhou. The airline will “gradually expand the deployment of this popular aircraft based on calls and operational approvals.”
In the absence of a vaccine still available, what motivates the request for enough passengers to fly the giants A380 back to Emirates? This helps the fact that Emirates is the first airline to offer passengers a flexible global policy for any coVID-19-related fitness price (up to 150,000 euros) and quarantine prices.
Before the pandemic and the global restrictions that accompany it, the global fleet of approximately 240 Airbus A380s flown 330 flights steadily to more than 70 destinations. But on April 27, 2020, the 15th anniversary of the first flight of the A380, Flightradar24 reported after a single A380, a China Southern flight from Los Angeles to Guangzhou. In June, at the highest (or deepest) point of the pandemic, a consistent Airbus spokesman conson told the publisher that “all A380s are parked lately.”
With an air drop of up to 90% in April, the world’s largest passenger plane joined the other 16,000 aircraft idle during the drop in Array Drive a 500-seat, near-empty A380- and four-engines was meaningless.
Emirates, which before the pandemic had advanced its cargo to 81%, announced that it will park its 115 Airbus A380s, operating smaller aircraft until the call resumes. Emirates Engineering said he had spent thousands of hours running to protect the planes. “While a narrow-body aircraft requires only 3 or 4 workers running for 8 hours to cover it, our planes want 4 to 6 workers on a 12-hour shift,” said Ahmed Safa, executive vice president of Emirates division. And taking extra precautions while maintaining social distance adds your own appealing touch.
Other airlines have seized the slowdown as an opportunity to floor or permanently empty their beloved planes to operate. Lufthansa, which would have occupied 35% of the seats in its A380 fleet (speaking of social distance), has knocked down its 14 A380s, as well as Air France, Qantas, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.
To top it all off, Qatar Airlines, which owns ten Jumbo-compatible A380s, said in July that it would not fly them for reasons of “sustainability.” Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “After a close look at the environmental impact on the numbers, flying such a giant plane with a low load doesn’t do our everyday environmental jobs or make no publicity.” However, Airbus’ website, IFlyA380.com, describes the A380 as “the world’s largest environmentally friendly bodywork. With a capacity 40% higher than its nearest competitor and low-emission engines, the A380 consumes 17% less fuel.” consistent with the seat, resulting in 17% less CO2 emissions.
Emirates clearly believes that the passenger call is enough to unpack their A380s, even if they take some time to put them back into service. It takes 4 or five committed workers and at least 18 to 24 hours in the air for a jumbo to come back to life.
Much of the premium service passengers expect from Emirates will return with the A380. Emirates will resume service with hot, cutlery and quality dishes sterilized prior to each use. First and Business classes will provide one-time menus and wine cards. Comfort parts such as mattresses, pillows, blankets, headphones and toys will be provided sealed. Emirates says consumers will get a hygiene kit at the door before boarding flights.
What gives Emirates enough confidence to offer passengers COVID-19 flight insurance? The airline is taking steps to prevent it from spreading the virus.
Passengers transiting through Dubai International Airport (DXB) and transferred to another flight will pass a thermal check. Transfer desks were installed at the airport with protective barriers. The passenger waiting domain has been changed to make some social distance. Staff dressed in non-public protective devices (PPE) lend a hand to passengers from a distance.
The boarding series was staggered, with passengers climbing in rows from the last row to the front row in small numbers, minimizing contact with passengers. Hand baggage must be checked in and passengers may only carry essential pieces such as laptop, bag, briefcase or baby parts on board, which also minimizes contact in the aisles. The boarding gates are cleaned and disinfected very well after each flight. Emirates even asks passengers to bring their own pens to complete the forms.
The Emirates A380 cockpit equipment (and other aircraft) is fully equipped with EPI. Stopovers have been reduced in the destination cities, and on long-haul flights, where stopovers are required, teams are accommodated in single rooms in the hotels. Back in Dubai, where all Emirates teams are located, COVID-19 tests are carried out throughout the team. Each team member was required to perform for 40 14 days at home after each flight, unless they were on duty.
Emirates also added a cabin service assistant to the team on flights of more than an hour and a half. The important, but unpleasant, task of the cabin service assistant is to make sure that aircraft bathrooms are cleaned frequently, at 45-minute intervals. For passengers, each toilet is supplied with a disinfectant soap and instructions for use.
Emirates says its aircraft’s cabins have complex HEPA air filters that eliminate 99.97% of viruses and eliminate dust, allergens and germs. And to minimize the threat of contact infection, published journals and reading tissues will not be available, some studies show that paper is not the main source of transmission of the virus. When an A380 returns to Dubai, it goes through an “improved” cleaning and disinfection process, a great task for the big aircraft.
Is all this emphasis on sanitation necessary? Or is it the “COVID-19 theater” designed to reassure potential passengers? In any case, Emirates’ efforts are sufficient to reunite passengers with a favourite aircraft, the Airbus A380.
I have won several journalism awards and my writings have been published in the Los Angeles Times, American Way, Southwest Airlines Spirit, Meetings and
I have won several journalism awards and my writings have been published in The Los Angeles Times, American Way, Southwest Airlines Spirit, Meetings Successful and United Hemispheres. At home, at headquarters, I have a handful of credit cards of praise, I have spent more than six months of my life in Las Vegas hotels and I have studied a lot all over the world. However, one of my favorite destinations is Independence, KS, a giant small American town, where my paintings as a playwright were held at the William Inge Festival.