Emirates is increasing the destinations served by its Airbus A380 fleet this year, with new services being added to points in Europe, South Africa and Asia.
The Dubai carrier will start A380 flights to Johannesburg in October, Kuala Lumpur and Rome in December and Munich in January 2012.
"Sao Paulo was meant to become an A380 service, but we'd need to leave it there for 6h, and they simply don't have the space to park it as the airport is so congested. But we'll get there eventually," Emirates Airline president Tim Clark said.
Emirates operated an A380 to Rome in June, to mark the 50th anniversary of the airport. The carrier currently operates twice-daily to the city.
"Rome is the first Italian airport that can accommodate an A380 with the complete operating infrastructure," said Aeroporti di Roma aviation director Elia Pistola.
The airline has just operated a one-off flight to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, to mark Saudi Arabia's National Day on 23 September.
While the flight to the Saudi capital was intended as a one-off service, Emirates has operated the 489-seat aircraft between Dubai and the Saudi commercial centre of Jeddah since February 2010, and reports strong demand from both business and tourism sectors in either direction.
The carrier currently has 15 A380s in its fleet, with a further 75 on order.
Source: Flight Daily News
