Emirates will run the first-ever scheduled A380 flights to Milan Malpensa Airport from later this year as it upgrades one of its three daily Boeing 777 services to the superjumbo.
From December 1, EK91 switches to the A380 – leaving Dubai at 3:40pm and touching down in Milan at 7:35pm that evening.
On the return, EK92 takes to the skies in Milan at 9:20pm, arriving in Dubai at 6:25am the following morning.
These flights can also be booked through Qantas as QF8091 and QF8092, enabling Qantas Frequent Flyer members to earn status credits in addition to points with flying with Emirates.
While there are better connections when heading to Milan from Qantas’ QF1 and QF9 flights from Sydney and Melbourne, EK92 lines up perfectly in Dubai with QF2 bound for Sydney, which leaves Dubai at 9:55am each day.
QF2 reaches Australian soil at 6:50am – allowing connections throughout the other day to Qantas’ domestic and international destinations – unlike the Red Roo’s Dubai-Melbourne flight (QF10) that lands too late in the evening for onward domestic connections.
Sydney residents can also use the new A380 link-up to make a one-stop, all-A380 journey between Sydney and Milan.
Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer shared that as “Milan Expo 2015 closely approaching, over 20 million visitors are expected to visit the city and more than 3 million visitors will travel to Milan from international destinations.”
Milan will hand the baton to Dubai for Expo 2020, and the cities have signed an agreement for strategic cooperation on expo coordination.
Emirates’ Airbus A380s are kitted out with either 399 or 427 seats in economy, 76 lie-flat beds in business class and 14 private first class suites, which also come with two on-board ‘shower spas’:
The A380 offers over 1,800 channels of inflight entertainment on Emirates’ ICE system, with wireless Internet access also available throughout the aircraft.
From Milan, Emirates also flies onwards to New York JFK – although for now, the Milan-New York leg retains the Boeing 777.
After starting flights to Italy in 1992, Emirates now operates 49 flights per week to Milan, Rome and Venice, and uses a number of Italian products on board its aircraft.
In 2013, Emirates distributed over 2 million Bvlgari amenity kits to first and business class passengers, while over 3.5 million bottles of Castello Monte Vibriano balsamic vinegar and olive oil were also served to travellers at the pointy end.
With 53 A380s currently in its fleet, Emirates is the largest operator of the double-decker aircraft, with flights from Dubai to over 30 destinations worldwide.
The airline also launched A380 flights to Dallas just last week – mere days after Qantas also introduced the superjumbo to Dallas from Sydney on the world's longest route by distance.
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
21 May 2013
Total posts 7
In your face, Delta!
21 May 2013
Total posts 7
Oh never mind, completely misread that on my phone. I got too excited thinking it's MXP-JFK.
Still great news though!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Mar 2013
Total posts 7
EK92 on June 20 is a 777.
Odd that it's been down-sized again, during peak European summer travel.
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