Emirates to fly Airbus A380 Superjumbo on Toronto-Dubai route from June 1, 2009

Emirates Airline, owned by the government of Dubai, will make the first commercial flight of Airbus A380 Superjumbo aircraft to Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada, on June 1, 2009.

Thus, Emirates Airline says it will become the first airline to fly Airbus’s double-decker A380, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, to Canada.
Emirates, based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had launched service on the Toronto-Dubai route three times a week in October, 2007.

In a statement, Emirates said it had been witnessing strong demand on the 360-seat Boeing 777 plane which was deployed on the Toronto-Dubai route and so “it makes sense to switch to the 489-seat Airbus” that can accommodate more passengers.
The Canadian media had reported that Emirates Airline has been pressing the Canadian government for permission to enhance its Toronto-Dubai service from three times a week to daily flights.

Emirates said it already had 4 Airbus A380 Superjumbo planes and that the fifth A380 would be allocate for service to Canada.

Andrew Parker, senior vice-president of Emirates Airline’s public and international affairs, said in the statement that another 53 Airbus A380 aircraft were scheduled to be delivered to the airline over the next decade.

On the facilities to be provided in the A380 Superjumbo on the Toronto-Dubai route, Parker said that the upper level of the double-decker plane would have 14 suites in first class and 76 lie-flat seats in the business class. In addition, there would be 399 seats in the economy class on the lower deck.
Emirates said its A380 Superjumbo aircraft will also have an onboard lounge, services that include an extensive menu of multi-course meal options, the award-winning in-flight entertainment product ‘ICE’ with over 1200 channels of entertainment, SMS and email facilities as well as seat-to-seat calling.
Though fares are subject to change, Andrew Parker added, as of now, Emirates expects to charge round-trip prices starting at $1,130 for economy class, $6,550 for business class, and $10,000 for first class, which includes a lounge and two shower spas.

Andrew Parker said he hoped that the Canadian federal government’s Blue Sky policy on creating more options for foreign flights would lead to daily service from Toronto, adding that, in due course, Emirates wanted to expand service beyond Toronto, possible to Calgary and Vancouver.

While Air Canada, the flag carrier of Canada and the country’s biggest airline, has said that it had no immediate plans to order Airbus A380s, Air France, based in Paris, has said it will consider introducing the A380 on the Montreal-Paris route.

Three airports in Canada – Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal – have made the necessary modifications to handle the Superjumbo’s double-decker configuration and wide wingspan, the statement from Emirates Airline’s said.