Aircraft

Emirates has commenced Airbus A380 services on the Dubai-London Heathrow route today, with the first flight conducted with the carrier's third example of the type.

The A380 is to operate the EK001 and EK002 flights outbound from, and inbound to, Dubai respectively.

"We are delighted to bring our customers state-of-the-art comforts which are unmatched anywhere else in the world," says Emirates Airline president Tim Clark.

"Despite today's challenging economic environment, they have responded by booking every seat on our inbound and outbound flights."

The 489-seat aircraft offers a 40% capacity increase on the Boeing 777s which Emirates also uses on the Heathrow route.

"Owing to its environmentally-friendly performance, the Emirates A380s will make a huge contribution to Heathrow's efforts to reduce its overall emissions," says Clark.

Emirates already uses two A380s on Dubai-New York JFK flights and will also use the type to serve Sydney and Auckland from February next year.

• Link: Gallery containing more A380 images