Emirates A380 to land at London Gatwick

The A380 will operate one of Emirates’ three daily flights from Gatwick, enabling passengers to experience the world-renowned amenities on board. These include the world’s first Onboard Shower Spas in First Class, an Onboard Lounge for First and Business Class passengers and an in-flight entertainment system throughout the aircraft with over 1300 channels on demand. 

Emirates first flew from the UK on 6th July, 1987 with a daily service from Gatwick. Today, the airline offers 16 daily flights from six UK airports to Dubai where passengers can connect to a network of over 120 destinations worldwide. 

“Emirates has changed the face of UK air travel since we took off from Gatwick 25 years ago,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice president, commercial operations, Europe & Russian Federation. “Since that time, millions of travellers have flown with us from our six UK departure points to Dubai and beyond.” 

“As our network has grown, we have not only introduced new overseas destinations to UK travellers, but have also helped to build trade links for the UK with markets across the globe. We have contributed to the UK economy through job creation, inbound tourism and cargo exports,” Mr Obaidalla added. 

Emirates directly employs over 500 people in the UK and more than 2,500 British nationals across the Emirates Group globally. 

In addition to its triple daily Gatwick service, Emirates now flies five times daily from London Heathrow, three times a day from Manchester, twice daily from Birmingham and Glasgow, and daily from Newcastle. 

“The arrival of a scheduled Emirates A380 flight from Dubai for the first time at Gatwick is a double celebration,” said Guy Stephenson, Gatwick Airport’s Chief Commercial Officer. “It marks the 25 years that Emirates have been operating in the UK, with Gatwick being their first airport. It is also the first time that Gatwick has welcomed a scheduled A380 flight - a huge achievement for the airport. 

"This flight arrives at a time when Gatwick is investing in its A380 pier infrastructure, allowing us to pier serve the aircraft from next summer. 

"The A380 is rapidly becoming the aircraft of choice to serve major long haul trunk routes. We want Gatwick to be playing its part in this exciting new era of long-haul travel and helping to increase connectivity to key markets.”

Anyalst Saj Ahmad commented: "Emirates is making the most of its expansion plans through its A380 fleet by growing capacity at key cities so it's no surprise that Gatwick will finally see the airplane operating there. While some in Europe want to restrict Emirates' ability to get new slots, the reality is that a quick airplane substitution to the A380 brings them double-digit capacity growth as well as being able to still seek out extra landing rights. 

"Given the A380 popularity at Heathrow and Manchester, services with the airplane at Gatwick were as much as an inevitability as it was a necessity. Emirates is one of the few top-tier airlines recording stunning growth along with strong yields, although recent oil price pressure as well as grounding of some A380s due to wing cracks have hampered operations. With London no closer to solving the capacity conundrum, Emirates will be keen to swap its remaining two Gatwick flights to A380s as quickly as possible."