Aviation Talk: How to take a flight on world's largest plane Airbus A380 from India?

While airlines including Emirates, Singapore Airline, Qantas and handful of other air carriers operate the Airbus A380 globally, only a couple of them are flying the plane to India.

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A long-time favourite amongst travel enthusiasts, the Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger commercial airplane. First launched in 2005, the French-made aircraft replaced the Boeing 747 as the largest passenger plane in the world, and soon become a favourite among the plane spotters and avgeeks. The plane is loved for its extra legroom, double decker cabin, massive dimensions and safety record. Although stopped from production in 2022, the A380 still remains one of the most photographed planes in the world. Currently, airlines including Emirates Airline, Singapore International Airline, Qantas and few others operate the Airbus A380 on international routes.

Sadly, there's no India airline that operates the Airbus A380. While there were rumours of Air India acquiring an Airbus A380, it operates Boeing 777 as its largest plane for the international flight operations. In fact, Air India used to operate Boeing 747 as the only double decker plane in India for a long time. But this doesn't mean you can't board an Airbus A380 from India. Here's a list of airlines operating the world's biggest plane and how you can board them:

Emirates Airline: Bengaluru - Dubai - Bengaluru flight

Emirates, the Dubai based air carrier has the largest fleet of Airbus A380 globally. While they started fligts to Delhi Airport as early as 2014, empty seats forced them to close the operations in India. Starting October 30, 2022, Emirates’ has reintroduced Airbus A380 flights in India, between Dubai and Bengaluru. Emirates will operate EK568 and EK569 daily as the flight leaves the airline’s hub at 21:25hrs, arriving in Bengaluru at 02:30hrs local time the next day. The return flight departs Kempegowda International Airport at 04:30hrs, arriving in Dubai at 07:10hrs (local time). 

The Emirates plane will have champagne-coloured seats in premium cabins offering direct aisle access for every passenger, recline to a fully flat position, and offer personal minibars, ample personal storage, and a high degree of privacy. 

Singapore Airlines: Mumbai - Singapore - Mumbai flight

International carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) is a partner with Vistara Airline in India. However, they never operated the Airbus A380 despite the partnership. In 2022, the Airbus 380 Superjumbo aircraft resumed its services from Mumbai International Airport with Singapore International Airline operating daily flights to Singapore after a two-year break. SIA said that the A380 replaced the Airbus A350-900 on the SQ 424/423 Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) services between Mumbai and Singapore.

Singapore Interantional Airline’s A380 features 471 seats in four classes: six suites and 78 business class seats on the upper deck, as well as 44 premium economy class and 343 economy class seats on the main deck.